Sep 30, 2011

Agriculture program at Shasta College still growing after 60 years

Shasta College’s agriculture program covers a lot of territory — fields, greenhouses, a pumpkin patch, a vineyard, animal barns and an arboretum. It includes 20 cows, 30 goats, eight pigs, a couple of sheep and some 1,200 students.

Many of the students spend time on the 70-acre campus farm putting what they learned in the classroom into practice. They feed pigs, train grapevines, grow poinsettias, plant milo, harvest hay and check irrigation systems.

"We are very unique," said Eva Jimenez, dean of business, agriculture, industry and technology. "We have livestock. We have crops. We have hands-on labs. The majority of our community colleges do not have this type of environment for their students." The Redding Record Searchlight

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