The Cerro Gordo County Farm Bureau and Worth County Farm Bureau presented a $10,000 grant to North Iowa Area Community College, providing the college an opportunity to increase cow and sow herds in the on-campus farm lab.  The funds will provide more opportunities for students to learn valuable animal care techniques.

“As more and more students show interest in studying agriculture and animal sciences, our local county Farm Bureaus saw an opportunity to partner with NIACC to help grow their animal herds to provide students more opportunities to gain valuable, hands-on experiences caring for livestock,” said Kevin Pope, president of Cerro Gordo County Farm Bureau. “As a farmer myself, I am excited that so many young people are passionately pursuing opportunities in agriculture.”

The $10,000 grant provided to NIACC will allow the animal sciences department to grow their current herd.  The additional cows and pigs on campus at the NIACC farm lab will provide students additional opportunities to work directly with the farm animals and gain valuable insight into animal care.

The NIACC ag program currently has about 65 students in the two-year program. These students are given hands on experience at the NIACC farm lab in both crop and livestock production. Students are given the opportunity to care for the livestock on a daily basis along with procedures including vaccination, castration, teeth clipping, tail docking, dehorning, medication administration, and artificial insemination. The students are also involved in making decision on sires, breeding dates and marketing options. The grant will allow NIACC to continue to deliver a high quality education with an increased number of livestock. The larger numbers will allow more students to perform the applications and give students a real world experience in daily care and marketing. This will better prepare students to enter the work force or begin their own operations with a better understanding of what it’s like to work with a larger herd of animals.