Flathead Valley Community College officials are reluctant to say it’s a sure thing, but the prognosis is good for the college to establish a two-year agricultural program sometime in 2013. The school has been exploring the idea for the last few months using a $121,000 United States Department of Agriculture grant it received in 2011.
If approved by school officials and the faculty senate, the program could begin as early as next fall. Students enrolled would earn an associate of science degree in two years or start at FVCC and eventually transfer to a four-year institution.
Heather Estrada was hired in January to complete a needs assessment and determine how an agriculture program would fit into FVCC’s curriculum. Before coming to FVCC, Estrada earned a doctorate in crops sciences from the University of Alberta and worked at the Northwest Agricultural Research Center in Creston.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to let people stay on the land and stay farming,” Estrada said. “We have a strong local food movement in the valley, so we can tap into that.”
Estrada has spent the last few months interviewing local farmers, ranchers, business owners and high school students to gauge interest in the program. So far the response has been positive. FVCC has also partnered with Farm Hands, a nonprofit group that produces a local farms and food map for the Flathead Valley. Farm Hands’ Jenny Cloutier has been compiling a list of local farms and businesses willing to work with the school and offer internships. She is also helping the school find farmland for lease or purchase and is hoping that people with those resources will contract her group at [email protected].
If the school decides to move forward with the program, a student-run farm would be established on FVCC’s campus. Estrada said there is plenty of land available and it would allow the program to work with other departments. FVCC’s culinary students could potentially use fruits and vegetables grown on the property.
“That (student farm), in my mind, would be an important part of the agricultural program here,” she said. “We have land that was once part of the Hutton Ranch and so it would be cool to return it to that use.”
Estrada has already built a small test garden on the FVCC campus. The 3,000-square-foot garden was planted in May and has produced vegetables that are being sold to students and staff at a small farm stand on campus. So far, only Estrada, Cloutier and a few student volunteers are working in the garden, but she hopes it will increase interest in the possibility of a new program.
Although Estrada is unsure what the final program might look like, she said it will include a variety of different courses, with everything from business to landscaping.
Kristen Jones, vice president of instruction and student services, said the agricultural program would be a welcome addition, but Estrada must first finish the needs assessment and present it to the college’s administration. The earliest the school could approve the program is late fall.
“We have a gap right now in our curriculum and this agricultural program could fill it,” Jones said. “I think farming is still a strong component of the Flathead Valley.”