Agriculture Career Day Exposes Teens to Diverse Fields

This article was featured in the Summer 2017 Quarterly.

Finger Lakes Workforce Investment Board, Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Cornell Cooperative Extension team up to host 2017 Building the Agricultural Intellect of the Finger Lakes Youth Career Day.

By RJ Anderson
From dairy robotics and precision farming technology to the chemistry of wine making and integrated pest management, jobs in agriculture dot a diverse and varied career map in the Finger Lakes. Helping area high school students navigate ag-related vocational opportunities was goal of the 2017 Building the Agricultural Intellect of the Finger Lakes Youth Career Day April 26.

High school students enrolled in the Finger Lakes Technical and Career Center animal science program participate in a workshop hosted by Keseca Veterinary Clinic at Hemdale Farms in Seneca Castle, New York.

A collaboration among the Finger Lakes Workforce Investment Board, Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Ontario, Wayne, Seneca and Yates Counties, the second annual event brought together 220 high school students from 17 Finger Lakes-area school districts.
Featuring field trips to the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York, the Finger Lakes Community College (FLCC) Viticulture Center and Hemdale Farms, a high-tech dairy with a robotic milking parlor and high-volume vegetable growing operation, the event paired ag-minded high school students with experts from Cornell, FLCC, SUNY Cobleskill and professionals from the private sector. Each location included additional exhibitors, including Fowler Farms, SUNY Cobleskill, CCE, Finger Lakes Technical and Career Center, Farm Credit East, Keseca Veterinary Clinic and Lakeland Equipment…..
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