Do you believe in the future of agriculture? Because the Agriculture Executive Council and the thirty student organizations within it sure do!
Let’s take a back road and find out more about the remaining clubs who presented about their bright spots in serving the agriculture industry to end the 2018-2019 year off. So, sit back, pull over, and put the tailgate down.
Spring Term Club Spotlights
Collegiate Future Farmers of America (CFFA)
Learning to do. Doing to Learn. Earning to Live. Living to Serve. These four statements make up the FFA motto that embodies what it means to be a servant leader in high school and even further progressing into college. The Collegiate FFA serves to support the Oregon FFA Association as well as the Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom. The Oregon FFA organizes Career Development Event Days (CDE Days) for two days all over OSU’s campus during Spring term. CFFA is the group of people who are passionate for the future of agriculture and strive to help the annual operations that is the Oregon Future Farmers of America.
OSU Dairy
Cheese, ice cream, milk, and so much more! The OSU Dairy Club is here to fill our admiration for all things milk related as they strive to achieve educational activities for dairy youth as well as the general public. Members also serve both the state of Oregon and the national dairy industries as they maintain a presence at the Oregon Dairy Farmers Convention and the Oregon State Capitol to celebrate Oregon Dairy Day.
MANNRS
The Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences Club is here to empower and promote academic and professional advancement with minorities in agriculture and surrounding fields. Some of the activities they seize include the Food for Fund Food Drive, Mentor Program with the Junior MANNRS, and hosting mock interview as well as professional development workshops for its membership to further their growth in leadership opportunities. In the past one such leadership experience was the journey the membership embarked upon as they traveled to Puerto Rico for a service learning trip. A few of their projects during their stay ranged from incorporating an Agriculture Education curriculum and performing construction, engineering, and cleaning around the region.
Collegiate 4-H
“To Make the Best Better.” This club found a place here on campus to bridge the gap between the 4-H youth and desire to continue the passion as well as the drive for continuing growth beyond high school. The Collegiate 4-H and its members serve to provide immense assistance with the 4-H extension office and maintain an active presence at the National Conference, which will be in Oklahoma this next year. Some of the social impacts this club has to offer is found also in their bowling nights and membership retreat they have in the fall. Moreover, Collegiate 4-H has a handful of volunteer opportunities that promote their Head, Hands, Heart, and Health to greater service and loyalty to the Oregon State Fair.
Poultry Science
Why didn’t the chicken cross the road? Because it was too busy enjoying the Poultry Science Club meeting! It is at these meetings that they discuss research opportunities to understand the laboratory setting and gain animal experience in a field not a whole lot of people are comfortable working in. The list for public outreach with this club is endless. They help out at the Oregon Ag Fest with bringing a BABY CHICK display. Members also volunteer at the FFA Poultry Judging at the CDE Day Event and assist with 4-H Club Presentations.
Team Toxicology
Trainees of the Environmental and Molecular Toxicology are here to save us all in times of need. Their mission is to further enhance and diversify the educational experience of all EMT graduate and post graduate trainees, and associated undergraduate students. Team Tox is very involved in K-12 Outreach as they introduce several modules and activities including yeast-dose response, strawberry DNA extraction, and dealing with exposure and the susceptibility with that. Within the past two years a new partnership has formed with STEM Leaders where they are now able to pursue an array of mentoring and networking opportunities for students. Talking about succeeding in helping the future generations grow!
AAEA
Who here loves some friendly competition Jeopardy style? Well, one thing is for certain. The members of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Associations do. This is the unique opportunity to join a professional association to study, research, teach, and participate in agriculture and applied economics in a whole new light. This summer, actually, the team will be going up against 35 teams in Atlanta, Georgia and making an early arrival a few days in advance to visit the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.
Sigma Alpha
A professional sorority with a passion fueled by agriculture, the Xi chapter of Sigma Alpha serves to promote their four pillars of scholarship, leadership, fellowship, and service. OSU founded their chapter in 1991 and since then have had over four hundred active members. Their philanthropy is Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom, which is a very impactful program for the entire state of K-12 education to benefit from as they learn about agriculture and how it affects them in everyday life. Sigma Alpha members volunteer to help organize lesson plans and going out into the community with taking on literacy projects.
OSU Sheep Club
Who would turn down the opportunity to pursue any activity that involves learning more about sheep production? It definitely would not be the members of the Sheep Club. They gain countless hands on opportunities throughout the year including lambing, ultra sounding, breeding, hoof health, and vaccination. Did I mention Lambing Crew? Because members are able to actually watch and help BABY LAMBS being born. As if this isn’t enough fun stuff members get to do, there is also the opportunity to experience basic sheep handling by showing the animals at a competition, drawing blood and collecting fecal samples, and learning how to grade wool. One fun thing they get to take a trip to attend is the Northwest Championship Sheep Dog Trials.
Horticulture
The Horticulture Club participates and actively engages in the National Collegiate Landscape Competition where they make professional connections and access internships all over the country. Something super interesting about the club is how they fundraise. They grow most of their plants from starter plant in the green house, which is such an amazing opportunity to those who are interested in greenhouse production.
Sigma Delta Omega
A sisterhood of scientists, Sigma Delta Omega was founded here at OSU in 2006. These intelligent women are united by their passion for pursuing a future in science not only for themselves, but also the community. Every member actively volunteers in tutoring OSU students or working with OSU’s STEM Academy Program. In fact, the OSU STEM Academy is their philanthropy, which advocates for Women in Science, Engineering, and Math. SDO organizes a trivia competition for science and raises money for the program by selling chocolate covered espresso beans. YUM! Last year they actually raised over $3,000 for the STEM Academy. It is clear that these ladies have a good balance between social, academic, and professional life.
SACNAS
The Society for Advancement of Chicano/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science is an outlet for all to understand and help in the promotion of recruiting students in underrepresented minorities. This group of genuine people hold an essential and thriving position as they represent at the Mi Familia Weekend to assist in families’ understanding what college is all about and so much more. Furthermore, they host a wide variety of workshops that include such topics as how to find an internship, grad school options, and salary negotiation.
Let’s keep on cruising as we take a trip down memory lane with a little reminiscing from the Agriculture Executive Council’s main events this term!
Coast with the Most Industry Tour
Do you smell something fishy? Do you see beyond the douglas firs? Do you taste the cranberries in your juice? This year’s annual industry tour took us on a road trip full of singalongs, sightseeing, and exploring along the great Southern Coast of Oregon. Our adventure started off with going to Newport to visit Pacific Seafood and partake on a dock walk to see the various types of boats used for different purposes. We traveled a little further over to Coos Bay where we explored a little bit into the past of the town and the history that shaped the agriculture that surrounds the county. On day two of the trip, we started off with visiting a cranberry farm to learn more about the process from start to finish on their production site. Additionally, we had enough time for a pit stop to the Coquille River Light where we took a step into the past to see what it was like to manage a light house in the early 1900’s. Nothing like an amazing view of the ocean and the little town of Bandon! Afterward, we detoured to the Face Rock Creamery to get dessert first with delicious dairy products just before heading on over to shoot some oysters and get our feet a little wet as we understand what it takes to shuck some oyster shells. On our last day we ventured on over to the Coquille Tribal Land to explore their forestry management program. Our final stop was a luncheon with the amazing people of Northwest Farm Credit Services over in Roseburg. Here we discussed what it is that they do and how it can apply to what we, as students pursuing degrees in the agricultural sciences, hold a strong passion and desire for. One common thing was for certain on this Industry Tour among the various fields we uncovered along the southern coast: We all believe in the future of agriculture.
Ag Days BBQ, Recruitment, Panel and More!
Tuesday, April 16th: The Agriculture Executive Council and hundreds of people in attendance celebrated agriculture and its importance. The first day of Ag Days showcased the outreach and individual interpretation of what agriculture means in our lives. Each student organization was in attendance and were all stationed at booths around the SEC Plaza. There were interactive displays filled with baby goats, tastings of sausage, and roping dummies. Also, on display were undergraduate research posters, John Deere tractors, and a hay pyramid for all to enjoy. To top it all off, we had an amazing live performance put on by a local high school Mariachi band courtesy of the MANNRS club here at Oregon State. How cool is that?!
Wednesday, April 17th: The following evening the student organizations were invited back to the SEC Plaza for a lovely BBQ and to hear from a panel of Oregon agriculturists. They discussed the peaks and valleys of the hard work it takes to operate a farm as well as the day to day balance of pursuing this lifestyle.
Ag Exec Council Takes On Dam Jam!
This past term the Agriculture Executive Council was invited to apply for the Student Leadership and Involvement Dam Jam Awards. We applied through an extensive application process and received the opportunity to attend the Awards ceremony at the 2019 Dam Jam. It was announced that Ag Exec received the “Biggest Small Scale Event” of the year for organizing and implementing Ag Days. A lot of hard work and dedication was poured into the future of what Ag Days brings. This two day event brought a sense of culture and belonging from numerous backgrounds and fields of agriculture, which is why the event earned the credit it did.
Ag Exec and FarmHouse Wild Wild West Dance
For our annual CAS Dance we became partners in crime with the FarmHouse Fraternity in order to put on the best boot scootin’ boogie on campus. We took over the MU Ballroom for the evening and had a performance by the Country Western Dance Team, Cowboy Up. In addition to this, we also hosted a dress up competition for the best dressed in the Old West.
Huge Shout Out to ARF and ER Jackman
The thirty clubs within the AG Exec Council receive the opportunity to earn funding from two amazing foundations and we would like to this time to thank the people working behind the scenes to make this all possible. Students within Ag Exec associated clubs are able to fill out an application regarding information about the club’s purpose and breakdown of their budget as well as what it is they are asking funding for.
Fall Term Opportunity! The Agricultural Research Foundation was established in 1934 to facilitate, encourage, aid, promote, and engage in scientific experimentation and research in all branches of agriculture and related fields including physical, biological, chemical, economic and social aspects for the benefit of the agricultural industry.
Spring Term Opportunity! The E.R Jackman Foundation is a group of volunteers dedicated to actively plan, participate in, and support student programs, alumni relations, and friend building on behalf of the College of Agricultural Sciences.
Words of Wisdom from Our Advisor
Christina Walsh serves not only as the Student Engagement Coordinator for the College of Agricultural Sciences, but also the advisor for the Ag Exec Council. In her role as the Student Engagement Coordinator she works to support and develop programs, opportunities, and experiences pertaining to internships, research, service learning, leadership, and global opportunities.
The advice for clubs who are a part of the Ag Exec Council, Christina says, would be to focus on making your club the best it can be in order to offer great opportunities for the students to connect around the common interest that brought them to the club in the first place.
Closing Remarks for the Year
Just like when it is time to harvest your crop and plant a new one, it has come to the end of my time your Director of New Fields for this year. It has been a huge pleasure serving in this position and utilizing this communication platform to advocate for Ag Exec and the amazing individuals, members, and clubs within it. Without any of you there would be no Ice Cream Social for recruiting new students in the College of Agricultural Sciences, there would be no funding from the Agriculture Research Foundation and E.R. Jackman Foundation for the clubs, and there would be no future for agriculture to continue to flourish on the OSU campus.
With this said, I am beyond excited for what the future holds with the New Fields Blog as Ms. Baylee Amion- Jarra takes over. Baylee is going into her Senior year here at Oregon State as she pursues a degree in Animal Science. She is an active member in the professional agriculture sorority, Sigma Alpha, and is highly motivated for what is to come in this leadership position. More to come about her and the rest of the 2019-2020 Agriculture Executive team coming to a computer near you in the Fall term edition of the New Fields blog.
Stay on the beaten path with OSU Ag Exec’s New Field! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Thank you students, faculty, alumni, and supporters for helping the blog become what it is today.
As always, GO BEAVS!
Sincerely,
Monica Debord, Dakota Lager, Katelyn Schrum, Jolie Dickerson, Ashleigh Ehrke, Katelyn Wetzler, and Jessica Croxson
