Lethbridge College 'Ag Days' highlights Agriculture industry for southern Alberta students

Ag Days is a big event for Lethbridge College's school of agriculture, to help drive the love of the industry in future and current students.

LETHBRIDGE — It was a big week for agriculture at Lethbridge College, as the school's Aggie Club hosted Ag Days.

Events began Monday with student-focused labs and online lessons.

They finished Thursday with a job fair and even more hands-on activities.

"It's become a really big, important event for the college and we've extended it to include student-for-a-day activities, a trade show in centre core … more equipment and even more animals than last year," said Emma Knodel, Aggie Club president.

Some of Thursday’s events included a farm animal petting zoo, heavy-duty farming equipment display, free barbecue and job fair.

The hope is to grow an interest in agriculture in the region's youth.

"The median age of those involved in agriculture and farms is higher than other industries," Knodel said.

"To get more young people involved in understanding what our industry is about and what we do to serve our communities and people and, of course, feed our ever-growing population, is very important."

This is a big event for the college's school of agriculture, to help drive the love of the industry in future and current students.

"The breadth of the industry has increased and the capacity there is just huge," said Byrne Cook, school of agriculture chair.

"There's a lot of shifting going on and there's a lot of jobs that a lot of people probably don't think about that are available from crop scouting to sales to research and everything in between."

Companies at the job fair are glad to see the interest they've been receiving from future ag professionals and hope to get a few hires out of the event.

"We're always looking for the new and brightest and it's really great that there's a continued interest in the trades and other positions as well. It’s very, very exciting," said Tiana Schmaltz, a human-resources generalist at Western Tractor.

Students are thankful for the job fair and the chance to meet prospective employers and make industry connections.

"As a first year, I know I'm seeing lots of businesses here that I haven't known or heard about," said agriculture sciences student, Kianna Kuipers.

"I've already got a summer job lined up just by going out and talking to people at places like this."

For more information on Lethbridge College’s school of agriculture, or to apply for future intakes, you can visit its website.