Step Up, Stand Out, and LEADelaware!

The LEADelaware Class III planning committee has announced revised dates for its two-year agricultural leadership program. The sessions will begin on September 12, 2012 and continue through spring 2014.

The program is seeking 15-20 candidates just like you, who are involved in the agriculture industry as professional employees, farmers, teachers, or other related career fields and have a desire to be the next generation of leaders within the agricultural community.

During the two-year program, class members will participate in teamwork and leadership activities, visit local and regional agribusinesses, meet agriculture policy makers, and plan an international trip to experience diversity in perspectives and agricultural practices.

Bill McGowan, UD community development extension agent in Sussex County and LEADelaware committee member says, “LEADelaware is an opportunity to learn and experience leadership.”

Do you think you have what it takes to step up, stand out, and lead Delaware’s $8 billion industry? If so, hurry because the deadline is Friday, June 15, 2012!

For more information about the program or application process, visit their website or contact Laurie Wolinski at 302.831.2538.

Partnering for Success

We are strong believers in the value of education and experience. Over the spring 2012 semester, we partnered with a team of six University of Delaware College of Agriculture and Natural Resources undergraduate students to accomplish a market research project for our association.

The students were diversified in their age and majors such as statistics, resource economics, food and agribusiness marketing and management, and natural resource management. During the research project they were mentored by Dr. Tom Ilvento, professor of food and resource economics, and Laurie Wolinski, center director for the Northeast center for Risk Management Education.

The students gained experience in collecting, analyzing, and trending secondary data. They also were able to draw conclusions and make recommendations based on their analysis. At the end of the semester, the students made a final presentation to our marketing staff in our Dover, DE office. They did a great job!

Dr. Ilvento said, “We really appreciate the opportunity you (MidAtlantic Farm Credit) provided; this gave our students some real world experience.” Well, Dr. Ilvento, we are really happy to have worked with the students and enhance their college education, as well as teach them about the Farm Credit System, too.

So, are you an agribusiness or related company? Do you have market research projects that you would like completed? If so, consider partnering for success with a team of college students to prove you believe in the value of education and hands on experience. The connection we have now established between UD and MidAtlantic is a pure example of partnering for success. Great job, team!

Ag student lives off the fat of his own backyard

Sophomore agriculture student Andrew Bell is paying for his education at the University of Delaware by tilling the land in his backyard.

UDaily reports the Southern Delaware man already had the farm in operation – since his junior year of high school. The quarter-acre farm will double in size next year. In the meanwhile, it's helping him pay for his higher education.

"I actually never wanted to be a farmer, but after a rough summer I grew to love it," he told the publication. He said he discovered farming is "surprisingly soothing, especially in the early spring when everything looks so new. The calmness you get from spending time out there, and the happy exhaustion you feel afterward, is something people are losing as more jobs move indoors."

Tomatoes, yellow squash, cucumbers, zucchini and string beans are among the produce yielded in his backyard and he's got his eyes peeled on additional produce like shallots.

Delaware's College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, where Bell is a student, offers coursework in agribusiness, food science, environmental quality, ecology and animal biology, among additional disciplines.