Students Learn About Ag Research and Career Opportunities

May 23, 2018
By Tamara J Majcherek

Hosted by UC ANR South Coast REC, Cooperative Extension, and the Orange County Farm Bureau, programs that provide agricultural education to an increasingly urban population, local high schools participated in workshops at the South Coast REC that were designed to acquaint the students with ag research techniques, careers in agriculture, and the importance of urban ag and water conservation in their daily lives.

UCCE Master Gardener volunteers assisted UC staff rotating the Students and teachers between workshops focusing on basic IPM and pest identification; crop rotation strategies and hands on potato harvest, vertebrate pest management and gopher trapping demonstration; as well as safe food handling and lunch preparation.

Following the morning activities, OCFB and South Coast REC staff provided a barbeque lunch featuring potato salad and roasted potatoes prepped by the students after which all the youth and teachers had the opportunity to bag up the fruits of the labor to share with their families.

Much fun was had by all:

Learning about using the right trap for the right pest. — Group of people gathered under blue canopy tents in a grassy field, standing around a table during an outdoor event.

Harvesting potatoes - not the everyday activity for OC students. — Volunteers working together in a field, harvesting or tending crops with yellow buckets along a row of plants.

Identifying pests under the microscope. — Laboratory table setup with microscopes, petri dishes, and sample trays arranged for scientific observation.

Handling food properly and safely is always a good thing! — Students seated around a table preparing food, cutting ingredients on red cutting boards during a hands-on activity.

Delicious barbeque lunch courtesy of OC Farm Bureau and South Coast REC staff. — Outdoor food service setup with people lined up near a table filled with snacks and rows of clear plastic cups.

Taking home the bounty - (7) different varieties grown here at South Coast REC. — Large group of people posing together outside a building, smiling and holding red bags during a group event or celebration.