March 18-22 marked National Ag Week, and a week-long event to celebrate and inform was sponsored by the Agriculture Club with different events each day.
Monday kicked off the week, with members of the Ag Club setting up tables in Franklin Hall and hanging posters showcasing what was to come.
“Today is what it is. Ag Day. And its basically explaining the importance of ag and why we have National Ag Week and what we are going to be doing for the rest of Ag Week,” explained Trent ray, junior.
These tables included information about the educational opportunities within the college’s agriculture program along with some snacks and merchandise.
“We have a bunch of different majors set up in agriculture. We have Livestock Production, Ag Ed, Ag Business, and a bunch of other majors. We have cookies set out, coloring pages, fruits, we have our merchandise table. Were just trying to spread awareness that Ag Club is here and what agriculture is,” Richard Marshall, freshman, said.
Tuesday marked National Ag Day, and the quad was filled with different businesses.
Some furry friends also made appearances.
“Today is National Ag Day. We have a lot of different ag businesses. We have some goats out here, we have lunch on the quad, and we’re just trying to get some people exposure to ag,” relayed Austin Brigman, freshman.
Among the business tables, a Panther alumni was sharing information about her position that she received and how going through the agriculture program helped her in the workforce.
“I majored in Ag Business and Animal Science here, and this feed mill is actually four minutes from where I live. Once I knew I was getting close to graduating, I went and interviewed, and they actually created this job for me, so I’m an outside customer service/sales kind of person. It really prepared me because I got so much exposure here in the outside agriculture community, and I felt more prepared when I got into the job force,” said Josie Stanbury, alumni.
The businesses weren’t the only thing being used to help expose people to agriculture, a local feinting goat came out and was spreading awareness about the importance of ag week.
“Beeeeh behhhh,” bleated Tubby the goat.
Wednesday was the third day of Ag Week, which was plant day. The quad saw the Ag Club giving out plants and offering information about many different plant-related subjects.
“This is our plant day, so right now we are just talking about different types of soil and plants, and how basically everyone benefits from it,” remarked Fletcher Foley, freshman.
The Ag Club wasn’t alone in their efforts on Wednesday as the Enviro Club also set up to spread plant-based knowledge to those willing to take it.
“The Enviro Club and Ag Club have a lot of overlap, in general, but our table right now is just talking about soil sampling and how it’s done with the process in general–As well as a booklet of native species and plants, so hopefully, we get some more native species on campus,” explained Faith Chubbuck, Senior.
On Thursday, the music being played across the quad was mixed into the bleats and baas of the final event of Ag Week, animal day. This day was a day for folks to come and see the animals from Titmus Agriculture Center as they walked about and grazed on the quad.
“Today is Animal Day, and we have sheep and baby goats out on the quad just for people to interact with see and touch hopefully. It’s a very interactive day–that’s pretty much the goal of it, and that’s why we brought out the animals,” said Amber Gillan, junior.
The coordinator of the Ag Program, Nancy Brubaker, praised the students for their work and shared the sentiment of the importance of agriculture and Ag Week itself.
“This is Ag Week, which is a national celebration–not just celebrated at Ferrum College,” Brubaker said. “Tuesday was National ag day we just continue the week Monday through Thursday and have special events that folks can come out have a little taste of the fun parts of ag–kind of see what we do. The club is completely ran by students. The organizer for Ag Week this week was Trent Ray, and he organized this with the help of his peers, mostly. Our goal is to introduce people to agriculture. It’s very important to our society and the students who are into that program.”
The animals were also keen on spreading awareness of agriculture as both the sheep and the goats were quite vocal throughout the day, with the baby goats being the most social of the creatures who visited the campus, making sure that there voices were heard.
“MEEEEEHHHHHHHH”, finished Bingo the goat.
