Hands-on ag tech training that works
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Students doing a Specialist High Skills Major in agriculture in Ontario high schools are finding that it teaches them 'the technical stuff you can't learn at university' and sparks interest in other ag-related careers they hadn't thought about
by DAVE PINK
It just might be that the farmer training program offered to students at one southwestern Ontario high school has changed some lives.
At the very least, the agricultural equipment technology program at St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School in Clinton in Central Huron has confirmed the career direction of several young people with a farming background.
"It made me decide to carry on in farming," says Kyle DeCorte. Now 23, he graduated from the program's inaugural class five years ago and continues to work on the family's cash crop farm near Seaforth. As well, he has a custom spraying business.
"I thought it would be just pulling wrenches, but it was a whole lot more than that," he remembers. "There is no other course where we could have learned as much."
As well, students can choose to be exposed to a variety of farm-related businesses through on-the-job shadowing programs that could last a day or up to two weeks, maybe with a farmer, a seed dealer or a machinery dealer. "If a student has an interest in any one thing, this will get them a glimpse of it,"says Tim Martens, spokesman for the Huron-Perth Catholic district school board.
"It was a perfect extension of what I was already learning at home," says DeCorte.
"There are many key elements to every farm operation, one of the largest being the maintenance, operation and repairs to modern farm equipment. Local dealers and manufacturers had donated some impressive equipment for students to use. Everything from tractors to a dynamometer more advanced than I had ever seen at any repair shop.
Our shop classroom was full of theory, practice and agriculture conversation between students. We gained knowledge that students from other schools would not get the chance to," he says.
"If I had to try and remember all of the things I learned in high school, no course would come close to having the take-home knowledge that ag tech did. These are the kind of lectures and practices a farmer uses on a daily basis to maintain a successful business.
"And the memories and atmosphere of that class is what shows that this farming business is a lifestyle."
There are now 475 students enrolled in 23 similar ag tech programs across the province, but St. Anne's was among the first. In all, Huron-Perth Catholic district school board spokesman Tim Martens says, close to 120 students have taken ag tech courses at the Clinton school since the program's inception in 2007, but not all of them graduated with the distinctive red seal of their Specialist High Skills Major diploma indicating that they completed the entire program. Martens estimates that about 60 per cent of those students work in an agriculturally related job.
In a province where it's believed there are three times as many farmers over 55 as under 25, the ag tech program alone isn't likely to turn things around on its own, but its results do appear to be encouraging.
Dennis Watson, an agriculture, biology and chemistry teacher at Chesley District High School in Bruce County, estimates that, since the program began at his school as a pilot in 2006, about four to six students graduate every year "with the full package," as well as another 15 to 20 students who have taken some of the classes.
"We were worried at first that, if you didn't have a whole bunch of kids graduating with all components, it was not going to be viewed as successful," he notes. But the program's organizers soon realized that using the number of diplomas awarded was not the best measure of success. Sometimes completing the major is not possible because of timetable conflicts, Watson explains.
Students' next steps might be a better measure, he says. But it's not clear how many students across the province who have taken Specialist High Skills Major in Agriculture courses have enrolled in post-secondary education.
Karen Nelson, Ontario Agricultural College liaison officer, for example, says she is planning, but has not yet launched, an effort to track how many of first-year agriculture students at the University of Guelph's main campus are High Skills Majors.
Nelson is involved in outreach and student recruitment, and part of the reason why she's interested in developing those statistics is because enrolment in the college's Bachelor of Science in agriculture is up 35 per cent this year. "It could be our outreach program, it could be the interest developed from the Specialist High Skills Major; we don't really know how to tell."
Town students enrol
At Ridgetown Campus, where enrolment in agriculture-specific programs is up 15 to 20 per cent from last year, providing tours to students involved in the High Skills agriculture program is a regular occurrence. Kory Lippert, campus recruitment co-ordinator, says he's toured four High Skills agriculture classes over the last 10 months.
Lippert does not keep statistics, but speaks highly of the program, which "introduces some students to agriculture who maybe normally wouldn't be. That's the biggest thing I think it does."
Indeed, at Chesley High School, about half of the students who become involved come from towns, says Watson. Students have also transferred from other schools to take the program.
"What we're finding are a lot of kids entering the program who don't necessarily want to farm, but who want to be vets or want to be a vet tech," Watson says. "They don't have that hands-on experience but they get it through the program, so that gives them a bit of an advantage."
Students in larger urban centres who might be interested in attending the program, however, are out of luck. With the exception of one program in Guelph, all the Ontario schools that offer ag-tech training are located in rural areas.
The problem has to do with the program's central strength – partnership with local business and community. Obtaining on-the-job exposure through co-op placements is a mandatory component of the program. However, in urban communities, says Aldo Cianfrini, an education officer with the Ontario Ministry of Education's strategic policy branch, there is often not enough technical support for a farm-based program.
The program also requires students to have complete units with an agricultural focus in more general topics, such as English and math, meaning teachers delivering those subjects must include a farming component. As well, each of the high school programs must be supported by an advisory committee from the community.
The logistics for offering the program in urban areas, says Cianfrini, don't work.
For students involved in the programs there might be difficulties, too. Watson points out that, for students planning to attend university, the agriculture courses are not considered university-qualifying courses. That means having to spend extra time at the high school level to obtain the High Skills diploma.
Over the years, the ministry has added options for ways students can incorporate the programming into their timetables, Watson says. However, even more flexibility in course selection is needed. He points out that students at Chesley who want to take the program must plan at least two years in advance to obtain the courses needed to complete it. This is because the school's overall enrolment numbers are small and sometimes a section of a course is offered only every other year.
Big businesses a challenge
Liz Sandals, Ontario's minister of education, says one of the biggest challenges is to find employers willing to commit to the program. Local small-to-medium-sized businesses are easier to convince to get involved, she says, often because they are directly involved in the community and recognize the opportunity presented to foster a local work force. "What we have more of a problem with is actually the big, multinational, pan-Canadian businesses," she says. "The decision-making around whether you can have students to participate in work experiences on-site may be made at a different level that isn't even in Ontario."
Nevertheless, the program concept in general is regarded as a success, she says, pointing to an Ontario high school graduation rate that has jumped to 83 per cent today from 68 per cent in 2003. "Generally, that's the impact of the Specialist High Skills Majors," she says.
Ministry statistics also indicate that students enrolled in such a program earn more credits and, for every credit attempted, they will complete 95 per cent, a completion rate that's slightly higher than the normal, Sandals says.
One of the driving ideas behind the Specialist High Skills Major program was to introduce a "reach ahead" dual credit, a course that a student could count towards both a high school and college credit. That idea has really caught on with the colleges because of its value as a recruitment tool, she says. "Kids who may never ever have thought about doing post-secondary education come and get their foot in the door on that dual credit and say, 'Hey, I love coming to community college.'"
Sandals anticipates the program will keep evolving. "As people become more and more aware of the opportunities in the whole agri-tech area, you will find more of those locally tailored, sub-specialty agriculture programs that fit whatever the opportunities are in the local area," she says. "Certainly the trend has been that gradually the number of programs has continued to grow."
Those for whom the program is intended are just as convinced it has been of benefit.
"Our expectations were wide open, and it surpassed them," remembers Matt Van Osch, who also graduated with that first class at St. Anne's. "We learned much more than I thought we would at first, like tearing down tractors to their bare bones. I didn't expect that."
Moreover, he says, "growing up on a dairy farm I'd always known that I wanted to milk cows. And like any farm kid, tractors were one of the best parts of farming. Because of our farm's size, we have always tried to do most of the cropping ourselves. This of course leads to many fixes on our slightly aged line-up of equipment. This is where the program kicked in the most for me. With the hands-on approach in the classroom and the in-field aspect of the co-op program, it gave me a solid foundation to build from.
"By physically getting dirty and making mistakes, I was able to go home and actually help fix problems on our farm, instead of watching my dad from the sidelines and learning gradually over time. I have the knowledge to identify and, for the most part, solve a lot of our mechanical issues without having to make expensive service calls."
Van Osch, 24, is now a machinery operator at Lucknow District Co-operative Inc., spraying and spreading fertilizer, and continues to lend a hand with the family's 300-acre, 50-cow dairy farm near Lucknow.
"Working around fertilizer all the time proves to be a challenge almost every day," he says. "Steel inevitably rusts out, so we always seem to have something to fix. With the Specialized High Skills Major under my belt, stepping into this job seemed effortless. I had already taken the pesticide licensing course through the program, which helped in my understanding of pesticides for spraying, and the mechanical skills of the course were there to aid in the maintenance of all our equipment," says Van Osch.
"The program did change my approach to agriculture. If you were to ask me five years ago what I thought I would be doing in five years, I never would have guessed I'd have the job I have now or have the perspective of how I want to run our farm in the future. I would have told you five years ago I would be a dairy herdsman or something dairy-specific.
"Not meaning to stereotype, but I would have had the typical dairy farmer attitude; as long as there is feed in the barn and the cows are happy and making milk, well that's a success. I no longer see things that way. The harsh reality is that, if I want to become a part of our operation, our farm has to run efficiently. It's no longer good enough for the cows to just make milk every day. Crops, cows and machinery have to perform to their fullest potential."
Broad range of experience
As well, says Van Osch, there was the opportunity to be with other young people interested in working on the farm. "It also allowed for a bunch of high school students to learn from one another about how other farm operations worked," he says. "It sparked interests in other agricultural fields that weren't even thought about yet."
Other graduates sing the praises of the program, for many more reasons than the on-the-farm training they received.
"It gave us exposure to the different aspects of agriculture," says Mike Van Aaken, 24, who now runs a custom-wrap baling business. "It gave us a broader range of experience than what we would have had if we'd stayed on the family farm. And the best thing was we were allowed to learn from our mistakes. If we did have problems, it taught us where to start looking for the solutions."
Ian VanDoornik, a 2012 graduate, says the program gave him an insight into other aspects of farm operations. "It's a great course and it gave us a good head start," says VanDoornik, 19, who's doing an apprenticeship as a farm machinery mechanic at Huron Tractor in Exeter. "I don't think I would have gone into the mechanical side of it if not for the course."
As for Alex Melady, who graduated in 2011 and is now finishing a Bachelor of Commerce degree in food and agricultural business at the University of Guelph, he says the high school program provided a depth of training that his university courses do not. "It taught me the technical stuff that you can't learn at university. There's a lot you can get out of this course," says Melady, who grew up on the family's cash crop and pig operation.
As for the social advantages of getting to know people with similar interests, "it's not just about what you learn in high school. It's who you meet," observes DeCorte. BF
With files from Mary Baxter
Individualized programs tailored to the community's needs
The Specialist High Skills Major in agriculture was one of eight specialized programs the province initiated in 2007. Several others have since been introduced with subjects of specialization ranging from construction, hospitality, manufacturing, forestry, mining, arts/culture and horticulture/landscaping to business, the environment and food processing.
They are available only to students seeking to enter these jobs immediately after graduation, those planning to seek apprenticeships, and those planning to study these specialties at college or university. The majors are offered over Grades 11 and 12.
To receive a diploma in the agriculture program, students must complete four agriculture major credits as well as one credit each in English and math as well as one credit in either science or business studies. According to the Ministry of Education's website, the non-agriculture courses must include units with an agricultural focus.
Students also obtain two co-operative education credits as well as participate in activities beyond the classroom intended to expose them to different possibilities for work within agriculture. They also obtain certification and training in first aid, CPR and hazardous materials.
Liz Sandals, Ontario minister of education, points out that each school's program is highly individualized and tailored to the community's focus and needs. Not only are there partnerships with local business and community groups but also with related community colleges. The ministry certifies each one to ensure all of the components are in place.
The community role creates great variety in the program. "The program in one high school might be about food processing because there's food processors in the area," she says. "In another it might be about heavy equipment." One program focuses on farm drainage. "That would relate well to southwestern Ontario, where so much of the agricultural land requires drainage and where presumably there would be job placements with people who are in the business of doing drainage." There's even one that specializes in GPS components.
Recognizing that variety "is important for people to understand," she says. "It's also important from the point of view that, if you look at the agri-food industry, there's such a huge range of employment possibilities in agri-tech today that in many ways the High Skills Majors actually reflect the diversity of employment opportunities in the agri-tech sector." BF