Northwest Polytechnic program to focus on how equipment runs and is maintained as well as crop, beef production skills
Twenty years after the agriculture program ended at Fairview College, an agriculture operations diploma course will begin this fall at the now named Northwest Polytechnic.
“We used to have agriculture courses in the Fairview College days. We no longer have those courses,” said Kristy Honing, chair of the animal sciences department at the Fairview campus in northwestern Alberta.
“We decided there is a gap in education up in the north for agriculture. We wanted to fill that gap and bring another agriculture course so people in the north don’t have to go to the south for education.”
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Honing has also been tasked with developing the course, which will focus on giving students skills required to work on Alberta farms.
“This course was requested by the industry.”
She said the course is different from the agriculture programs offered at Lakeland in Vermilion, Alta., and Olds College in Olds, Alta. It runs from November to April to allow the students already working on farms, or who want to work on farms, time to finish harvest or finish school before seeding begins in the spring.
Students enrolled in the program will receive their period one ticket for a heavy duty agriculture technician. The course will give them a taste of how equipment runs, basic equipment maintenance and basic crop production and beef production skills.
Students will also receive their Class one truck drivers license, or the MELT (Mandatory Entry-Level Training) program, a growing prerequisite for most farms.
“The MELT program that sets us apart is that they attain their training during their diploma.”
Honing expects most of the students will have some farming background or have grown up on a farm and want to learn about other sectors of agriculture.
“It gives them a taste of everything they would need to operate a farm.”
Two students have already registered for the program, one with no farming experience.
“It can be anyone, maybe someone from the city who has a passion for agriculture.”
Honing said the program was designed with a lot of feedback from producers in northern Alberta about what skills are needed for help working on farms.
“Now, the larger producers find it hard to get hired hands on the farm. They have combines on the farm worth $1.5 million. They don’t want just anyone driving those and running those. They want someone to have the knowledge and education that would set them apart. They will be able to maintain the equipment, change the oil on this farm equipment and operate it. Based on feedback from industry, these are the most important assets to work on a farm.”
The former agriculture college does have land, livestock, buildings and machinery that students can use to gain experience. The new program is looking at buying a combine cab rather than the full combine to help students become familiar with equipment. It also hopes to buy a simulator that can simulate a combine, swather and sprayer operation.
“This will hopefully be the first of many programs that will try to come back. I just hope we can grow the agriculture programs on this campus.”
In this first year of the program, there is room for 21 students, but it will run even if only a few are registered. The program was approved by Alberta’s advanced education department in April.
“It hasn’t allowed a lot of time to promote it and get the word out that agriculture is coming back to Fairview. So it’s been a little bit challenging to just share the word about the program,” Honing said.
She said the main benefit of the program is its timing around the crop season. Students earn a diploma and get their first step in a heavy duty agriculture technician course and their Class one truck driver training.
