Hartnell College sees agriculture enrollment boost
It is National Ag Day.
It is a day meant to raise public awareness of agriculture’s vital role in society and, of course, right in the Salinas Valley.
Over $4 billion a year is how much agriculture contributes to Monterey County’s economic output. According to Hartnell College, the agriculture industry is attracting more and more youth.
“Well I’ve been here at Hartnell for 10 years, and in that time, our enrollments have grown in agriculture by over 500 percent,” said Steven Triano, an agriculture instructor at Hartnell.
Triano says more students are realizing agriculture is not just about driving a tractor.
“They’re realizing that there’s technology jobs involved, food safety jobs involved, human resources, finance and other business activities,” said Triano. “So we’re getting a broader range of students in order to fill all of these different needs in the industry.”
Hartnell is expanding its Ag programs. The college has added horticulture technician and food safety courses. It is also coordinating with California State Monterey Bay so that students can continue their degree there.
The local farm bureau says that there is still a huge need for field laborers.
“Labor is one of our concerns. We have a lot of crops that we grow here in the Salinas Valley that are not mechanically harvested,” said Norm Groot, the executive director of the Monterey County Farm Bureau.
Groot says farmers need about 45,000 workers or more each year to harvest crops. That is because the rest of the country depends on it.
Monterey County produces large percentages of the total national pounds of certain crops each year: 61 percent of leaf lettuce, 57 percent of celery and nearly half of the nation’s broccoli.
“Personally, I know I’m biased, but I think agriculture is the most important industry on earth,” said Triano. “It’s the one thing that brings us together as human beings, we all have to eat, we all have to have clothing and fiber and all of the things that are products of Ag. We are all consumers of agriculture.”
It is the consumers who will carry the industry into the future.
