Mahr Park and Madisonville Community College are teaming up to give agriculture students across several majors hands-on access to working with plants. This comes as a looming shortage of agriculture workers is on the horizon.
In January 2019, Madisonville Community College launched its Agriculture program, which contains Associate degrees and certificates in several related fields such as Horticulture, Animal Science, Agriculture Business, Agronomy, Agriculture Technology, Sustainable Agriculture, and Agriculture Education.
There is a large demand on the horizon for agriculture workers as most people working in the industry are nearing their 60s, according to an article by The Messenger.
According to its website, Mahr Park Arboretum is a 265-acre park that offers several options for enjoyment from nature trails to fishing and kayaking and more. It was opened to the public in 2016 and has been working with Madisonville Community College since 2021.
The Messenger spoke with April Duncan who is an Assistant Professor of Agriculture at MCC who started the partnership with Mahr Park “I began collaborating with Mahr Park last spring when my greenhouse class grew native plants for one of Mahr Park’s native gardens. Mahr Park was created with a vision of giving back to the community and educating others. The plan is to continue to incorporate as many of my classes as possible with Mahr Park to allow more hands-on experience for the students.”
All Madisonville Community College students are welcome to take classes at Mahr Park, and high school students are offered dual credit courses as well.
More information about Madisonville Community College and the other courses it offers can be found on its website.