The United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service is partnering with North Dakota State College of Science and eight other Midwest community colleges to support hands-on student learning in the field, to develop future conservation-minded farmers and ranchers, and to cultivate more graduates interested in pursuing careers with NRCS.
NDSCS President John Richman, together with representatives of the Community College Alliance for Agriculture Advancement and NRCS, formally sign a national memorandum of understanding to develop a cooperative framework to enhance and accelerate training and adoption of technologies and best practices for improved agricultural productivity and natural resources stewardship.
C2A3 allows colleges such as NDSCS, to have land labs or college farms and are able to utilize their land resources for the implementation of conservation practices on the ground to help educate and inform students and producers. The goal of the cooperative agreement between the entities is to not only accelerate the adoption of conservation practices through the education of current, two-year agriculture students but to provide information to the broader community through field days and other college events and partnerships.
The C2A3 collaboration was born out of a mutual desire to provide more ongoing education, training and demonstration projects to future farm producers and agricultural service providers with the goal of improving the health, and therefore the long-term productivity, resilience and sustainability of the soil.
Another college in the region that is also a C2A3 member is Central Lakes College in Staples, Minnesota.
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