Visiting students observe drones used for farming at Rhodes State College.
Jacob Espinosa
LIMA — Rhodes State College welcomed about 70 area high school students to campus to “Lead the Change in Agriculture” and announced the reception of over $1.1 million in grants for its Agriculture Technology program Friday.
The grants, from the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will go toward helping students learn about agriculture technology like the drones and artificial intelligence students were working with at the event in the James J. Countryman Building.
“Northwest Ohio is home to over 10,000 family farms,” Angela Heaton, Dean of Health Sciences and Public Service at Rhodes, said. “Agriculture is the number one industry in Ohio and there are good paying jobs within the state. Our average farmer is 55 years of age so as they begin to age, we need a new generation and this new generation is very digital in relation to agriculture so we’re training them in it.”
Students at the event said that they found a lot of value from the experience.
“I think it’s great that they’re doing this to introduce a variety of different opportunities to work in agriculture,” Graham High School Senior Ryleigh Schafer said.
“It was well planned out and all the meetings that we’ve had have been great,” classmate Caden Caudill said.
Chair of the Agriculture Program of Rhodes, Jim Uphaus said that it was pleasing to see all the interest in digital agriculture from the students.
“I hope they see that there are career opportunities in agriculture in this region, that we are industry leaders and that as you learn technology, it helps you go back and realize what fundamentals you need to learn to go back and add to what you’re learning,” he said. “It kind of allowed me to come full circle because I was a student on this campus years ago and it was only until I traveled to Columbus that I was able to learn this. But I went to other schools and worked in the industry and was able to bring what I experienced back to the local community and to see students gain from that allowed me to do that.”
Uphaus shared information on prescription mapping in his session, but other rooms saw students learning about topics like agronomy, artificial intelligence and drones. They also had the chance to learn about the school and meet employers.
“It’s about providing an awareness of agricultural technology and the fact that there are good paying jobs,” Heaton said. “There are limitless possibilities here at Rhodes State.”
To learn more about the Rhodes State Agricultural Program, visit the school’s website.
Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.
