Hands on
Agriculture
Colby students earn valuable experience harvesting corn
By Neal Hogden The Colby School District and Colby High School FFA and Agriculture programs have long been a staple of the of the school and its history. Many farmers have gone through the Colby agriculture programs and have gone on to be champions of the agriculture industry.
One way the school helps teach students about the cropping and fieldwork parts of the ag industry is by giving them a hands-on opportunity to learn. On close to four acres of land, the ag department plants, grows and harvested sweet corn in 2022 and 2023. The fields lay between the football practice fields and the school forest and provides a backdrop during football practices to remind players that they are in an agricultural area.
The field had been a yearly operation for a period in the early 2000s. Then, in 2013, a nine-year stretch of the field laying dormant and growing taller grass took place before Agriculture teacher Kiersten Rogowski and the Colby FFA Alumni decided to bring the field back to life.
Many of the people that have donated time and money over the years for the field have been Colby graduates that have wanted to see the agriculture program benefit from the money that is acquired by selling the crops.
The problem with the field and its ability to be planted is that it is operating on a little to no-monetary support by the school and or agriculture program, leaving it up to donors to fund any seed, fertilizer and field work that might need to be put into the crops. This year’s field was graciously donated by Jake and Tom Peissig, Evan and Taylor Ensign, Luke Peterson, Ryan Lynn at Cropping Central LLC and River Country Co-op. Also contributing time and/or money to the cause were Dave Smith, Ashley Lueddecke and Kenneth and Jeanie Tesch.
“It’s my very small way of giving back to an organization that gave me and my family so much,” Jake Peissig said. “Because I’m not able to give a lot of time in other areas, this is one way I am able to help out.”
On top of the financial gain the crops from the field give the Colby agriculture program, the corn is also donated to local food pantries and teaches the students lessons in hard work and kindness. Additionally, the companies that either donated time, product or expertise could have a future graduate come and work for them that was touched by the program. For this reason, it has been important for local businesses in the ag industry to keep the Colby agriculture program going strong.
Rogowski said the field has been a nice asset to have in order to teach her classes about cropping but she wants to make the field even more educational in the coming years.
“I want the field to be more hands-on for classes in general,” Rogowski said. “With the corn, it’s great for the kids to go out, pick it and get the orders ready, but I would like it to be more educational. Moving forward, I’d like to change it to something that can benefit multiple classes in the ag program.”
Rogowski estimated that over 70 dozen was sold at Smith Brothers Meats in Colby last year as a part of the program, but with County Market in Abbotsford jumping on-board this year, she expected those numbers to rise.
Now that the sale is over, Rogowski, the Colby FFA Alumni and the ag department will look to the future of the field and what educational value it can bring.
FEELING CORNY AT SCHOOL - Students in Ms. Rogowski’s agriculture classes spent a couple of class periods picking sweet corn to be sold at local stores with sales benefitting the ag program at Colby High. A portion of the sweet corn was also donated to local food pantries.
