FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — For the third year, Kentucky State University welcomed middle and high school students from across the Commonwealth on Friday to learn about agriculture careers during its annual Ag Roundup event.
The three-day program features interactive experiences designed to educate students about various career paths within the agricultural industry, ranging from traditional farming to modern technology applications.
"I think that agriculture is very important and there's just not enough of it where I come from in Martin County," said Garrett Lowe, who traveled nearly three hours to attend the event.
From petting zoos to rodeo stations, the university hopes to inspire the next generation of agriculture leaders through hands-on learning experiences.
"Coming to this event we can find out that we have a lot more in common with the people around us and we share a lot of interests and we care about the same things," Lowe said.
The event features more than 50 learning stations and booths for more than 1,000 students from across the Commonwealth.
Megan Goins, a farm manager at Kentucky State University, has witnessed the decline of the agricultural business in Kentucky.
"There's a huge need for new, younger faces in agriculture. Because we do have older generations that are phasing out selling farms," Goins said. "So we need to share how important it is to keep those farms in business, especially in Kentucky being such a big agricultural state."
The program showcases that agriculture encompasses more than just cattle and traditional farming methods.
"I feel like people, like with the drone program overlook agriculture completely. There's so many different layer different levels of education that people are able to complete," said Kiersten Newcomb, who participated in a KSU summer camp.
During the summer program, students learned how drones can be used to map out land impacted by coal mining and how this land can be repurposed for tree planting.
"Before I went to the camp, I pretty much already had my mind made up of what I wanted to do, but now I guess it did really fuel my passion for agriculture and just make me more dead set on getting there," Newcomb said.
