By Alice McFarlane

Regional colleges partner to prepare students for careers in agriculture industry

Jan 26, 2022 | 3:04 PM

MELFORT, Sask. — Four Saskatchewan regional colleges have entered into a partnership to offer agriculture training.

Carlton Trail, Cumberland, Great Plains and Parkland Colleges will deliver the Agricultural Science Certificate program to students within their respective regions.

Carlton Trail Business and Skills Training director Deanna Gaetz said agriculture has long been an economic driver in the east-central region.

“Working in partnership with other Saskatchewan colleges is a great way to be able to offer this training, while further developing the knowledge and skills needed for working in this industry,” Gaetz told farmnewsNOW.

Cumberland College initially partnered with Alberta’s Lakeland College to bring the program to Saskatchewan. Since the program is brokered through Lakeland, graduates can choose to continue their education and transfer into the second year of the Crop Technology Diploma program at the college.

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Gaetz said Cumberland has run a couple of intakes of the Agriculture Sciences certificate and now Carlton, Parkland and Great Plains are on board.

“We got together as a group and looked for ways to work together to bring this opportunity to more people in Saskatchewan,” she said.

Over the course of the eight-month program, students will learn the basic skills necessary for modern agriculture operations with a specific focus on crop production. Courses range from record keeping and innovative technology to practical field skills.

Gaetz said the program was developed with consultation from farmers and industry.

“As a regional college one of our mandates is to meet the employment needs of businesses and industries within our region. So of course, speaking with our ag producers, retail ag sector, just finding out what they’re looking for and how we can keep people engaged and living in rural Saskatchewan.”

Gaetz said even larger family farm operations are having difficulty securing labor. She said this type of program will help not only family farm operations, but the retail ag sector that is desperately looking for employees at all levels right now.

The program will be delivered in a blended model, where all theory will be live streamed to each location from an instructor located at the Melfort campus of Cumberland College. Gaetz said all labs will take place in-person at each regional college.

“Each of the four colleges will have their own cohort of students. With the blended format, there will be face-to-face delivery, virtual delivery, and some hands-on learning in a lab type environment,” she said.

Gaetz said hands on training is an important component of the program.

“Some of the courses that will have the lab offering the practical skills to identify plants and weeds, assessing pest problems, some soil sciences work so there will be some work that will be able to be done in those areas right in an indoor lab type scenario,” Gaetz said.

The joint program is set to begin in October. Prospective students can apply online to the regional college of their choice.

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alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW