Georgian College offers new two-year, hands-on agriculture program

A new business-agriculture program has been set up at Georgian College in Barrie to combine in-class and outdoor hands-on training.

On Thursday, the class visited two local farms to get an up-close look at the industry's business side.

"The program has been great. I love going out to these places and learning about how these grain elevators work. I love learning about the mathematics and the finances of all the other classes," says student Wade Matheson.

"This is vital to bring on that next group of workers so that we can continue to feed the world. This creates that chance for kids to get excited about agriculture, come out to a farm, meet a farmer, learn about it, and hopefully make connections that can go on to future employment," says Steve Kell from Kell Farms.

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After touring around Kell farms in Gilford, the students stopped by Barrie Hill Farms, where they took a tour of the property. Everything from strawberries to apples was on display.

"We are taking the business side of running an agricultural enterprise, so that would be your accounting, your managing of resources, budgeting, that sort of thing, marketing, and we're also looking at the scientific side, so there's a good understanding of how the business is operated," explained program coordinator Paul Tarsitano.

"People kind of forget that agriculture is a business and it requires not only working with Mother Nature but it also requires dollars and cents and investment and return and accounting and management of funds. The business of agriculture is something that needs to be studied, so it's great for the future of agriculture in the province that students are studying that," says Morris Gervais of Barrie Hill Farms.

This is the first year of this two-year program at Georgian College.

The course also includes a co-op component designed to connect students with potential employers.