Friday, Sep. 25, 2009

Students tour CBC research area, Burbank farm

By Drew Foster, Herald staff writer

PASCO -- After sampling a fresh soybean, Taylor Williams ventured toward the pepper patch.

He held a particularly menacing looking chili and bit off its bright red end.

Jesse Schwab already had finished his pepper by the time Williams thought of going for a second bite.

Williams and Schwab were part of two busloads of Kennewick high-schoolers who spent Thursday morning touring Columbia Basin College's research farm. Schwab and Williams, sophomores at Kennewick High School, are members of Danielle Jelinek's horticulture science class.

"I think it's pretty important (to be out here) because they are learning stuff in class, but don't know how to apply it," Jelinek said.

The trip was arranged after a meeting at the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo between members of the agriculture community and area teachers.

"(The teachers) said, 'Gee, wouldn't it be really great if we could get these kids on your campus? Gee, wouldn't it be really great if we could get these kids on a farm?' " said Lisa Toomey of CBC.

So there they were Thursday.

Students from Kennewick and Kamiakin high schools touring CBC's farms, agriculture mechanics building and campus halls. After visiting CBC, the students boarded the buses and headed to Burbank, where they checked out Gauntt Farm.

Chep Gauntt spoke to the students about farming, finishing school, opportunities in agriculture, the role technology plays in farming and how the industry isn't all "back-breaking, get-out-the-shovel-type of work."

"Agriculture is something most American people take for granted," he said. "It's something in the background. I think in a lot of ways it's not very glamorous. This gives them a concept of the technology and the equipment."

At CBC, Tim Woodward, dean of the Agriculture Research and Development Department, led groups of students through the school's research farm, where small fields of soybeans, alfalfa, chili peppers, giant miscanthus, the remnants of sweet corn and other plants intermingle. He explained how soybean oil can be used as an alternative to petroleum-based oils and how ethanol can be made from switchgrass. He said students could farm a patch of ground, then sell the chili peppers they grow as a fundraiser.

Woodward hoped the students would use the experience to better themselves academically.

"I think if they see it in person or have a hands-on experience, it may help them do better in their math or science classes, or help get them a degree," he said, adding, "I hope that they've learned something about what our farmers are doing around here."

Schwab and Williams said the experience was eye-opening.

"I think it's pretty interesting," Schwab said. "Letting us try out the (peppers) was cool."

Schwab is in his second year of agriculture studies at Kennewick High and said he's considering making a career out of it. "I know I'm going to be in this the rest of my high school career."

Williams was one of the group's more precocious students, frequently asking questions and volunteering answers, until he had to be led away from his peers after using the hand he ate the chili with to rub his eyes. He said the varieties and variations of alfalfa piqued his interest and said he grows tomatoes, flowers and potatoes at home. Before Thursday, Williams wasn't familiar with the connection between energy and agriculture, and he said the trip opened career doors he never knew existed. "It made me think a lot more about what I can do."

Until then, he can think about adding chili peppers to his garden.

* Drew Foster: 509-585-7207; dfoster@tricityherald.com