New Agricultural Science Certificate Program Announced In Saskatchewan

Jan 28, 2022

Individuals interested in a career in Agriculture can now sign up for an Agricultural Science Certificate Program.

The 8-month program, which will start in October 2022, is being offered through four Saskatchewan Regional Colleges.

The course will be offered through Great Plains College, Carlton Trail College, Cumberland College, and Parkland College.

Brandie Trew, the ASC Program Co-ordinator at Great Plains, says the industry has been concerned by a lack of skilled workers in the sector.

"So we've addressed that with offering this program. The students will learn modern agriculture with a focus on crop production. And once they complete the eight months with us, they can choose to either enter the job market, or continue and get their diploma at Lakeland for a second year."

Courses range from record keeping and innovative technology, to practical field skills, with graduates being prepared for a career in the agriculture industry.

"The agriculture industry is a key part of our provincial economy and local labour market," said Kim Lambe, Director of Programs at Great Plains College. "We’re thrilled to have established this partnership that will allow us to deliver this long-awaited agriculture programming in our region. We look forward to helping students prepare for a successful career in the high-demand agriculture industry."

The program will be delivered in a blended delivery model.

All theory will be live streamed to each location from an instructor located at Cumberland College’s Melfort Campus, while all labs will take place in-person at each regional college.

Jeff Fisher, Chair of post-secondary education at Cumberland College, says not only is this a unique offering in the Saskatchewan regional college system, but, more importantly, it is relevant and necessary to the agriculture sector in our province.

"It is exciting for us to facilitate the delivery and see the program expand through this partnership with three other regional colleges."

For more information about the Agricultural Science Certificate, please visit the website of the college in which you are interested in attending.

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Video: Learning to Wrench From Dad the Hard Way

Harvest is a week out and the farm picked this week to fall apart. The truck needs a battery, the barn curtain's got a problem, and the corn and beans are telling us we're out of time to get it all fixed.

So it's a full day of wrenching. Tork supervises while I get the truck back running, then we're out at the hog barn where one rusted up part has the whole curtain system hung up. Ladder work, cable work, and a little dad-and-son disagreement about the right way to do it. We close it out walking the fields, shelling beans and checking corn, because whether everything's fixed or not, harvest starts when harvest starts.

Chapters: 00:00 Everything breaks the week before harvest 01:00 Tork supervises while I fix the truck 12:30 Out to the barn to find the curtain problem 14:30 One rusty part hung up the whole curtain 20:00 Running the curtain cable from the ladder 24:00 Walking the beans and corn before harvest 26:30 Wrapping up

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