| | The generosity of a donor will provide more opportunities for Lakeland College’s agricultural sciences students to take the lead and grow ag-based research opportunities.
Judy Sweet made a $500,000 donation to Lakeland on Thursday, Sept. 6, which will be used to increase Lakeland’s farm land base in the future. This gift builds on Judy’s support of the modernization and expansion of the G.N. Sweet Livestock Research Facility, which officially opened on Oct. 20, 2016 in memory of Judy’s late husband Garth. Students are trained on feed efficiency testing of livestock at the G.N. Sweet Livestock Research Facility by working with faculty and directly with industry. This year, students will work on a project using GrowSafe® automatic feeding equipment and an emerging method using infrared technology.
“This donation is really about helping Lakeland College address their need to grow their farm operations. This ties into the G.N. Sweet Livestock Research Facility and supports the students, who are eager and already prepared for the real world when they graduate. They could run their own farm, start a new business, advance ag research or take on something else, and they are prepared to do it,” says Judy. “To advance this, you have to have more land.”
Animal science technology and crop technology students currently have access to 2,000 student-managed acres of crop and pasture land, hundreds of head of livestock and numerous learning facilities at the Vermilion campus, including the G.N. Sweet Livestock Research Facility.
“Land is the foundation for our student-led learning model on the college farm. Our intention is to grow our land base in a way that enriches educational opportunities in ag business and research,” says Josie Van Lent, dean of Lakeland’s School of Agricultural Sciences. “We are very grateful to have Judy’s support and to see her donation going towards a program that supports business and business principles in agriculture. This gift will not only benefit Lakeland’s ag programming and farm operations, it will also have a lasting impact on our students – their education lasts a lifetime and that’s what Judy is contributing to.”
Contact:
Katie Ryan
Senior Communications Specialist
780-853-8796 |
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