Did you know that Lake Land College (LLC) offers not just one but three different agriculture-based clubs? These three clubs offer students within the agriculture (Ag) discipline opportunities to connect with others pursuing a career in Ag, expand their knowledge, practice the skills they are learning, socialize and have a good time. The three Ag-based clubs LLC offers include the Professional Agriculture Student Organization Club (PAS), Horticulture Club and Collegiate Farm Bureau. If you are pursuing a degree in agriculture, perhaps one of these clubs would be a great fit for you. Check out the following information for more details about each of these organizations!
The Professional Agriculture Student Organization, simply referred to as PAS, is a community that has been active at LLC for many years. LLC agriculture and horticulture professor, Dyke Barkley shares that this group is essentially a college-level version of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) organization. There are many chapters of PAS across Illinois and at a national level as well. The whole idea of PAS is to prepare students for the participation of a state-level conference with other PAS groups where students can showcase their skills and talents in all sorts of ag-based categories. This conference takes place during every fall and spring semester. Barkley mentioned that some of the contests that students can participate in include crops, landscape, livestock, soils, prepared and impromptu speaking, greenhouse, dairy, Ag promotion and marketing as well as so much more! These contests are a great way for students to apply their agriculture knowledge and showcase their talents. In fact, the conference took place recently on Thursday, 13 February, and 28 LLC agriculture students were able to participate and win various awards.
The Collegiate Farm Bureau is another great LLC agriculture club option. This club is agriculturally based, with a sub-group referred to as “Young Leaders.” Barkley notes that this club provides both educational and social opportunities for Ag students. Some of the previous activities of this group include a bag tournament, Christmas potluck dinner, pedal tractor pull and a three-day Young Leaders conference. Please note that participation in this club does require a membership to the Illinois Farm Bureau, which is a state-wide organization. If you need help applying for this membership, please contact Dyke Barkley or any of the Ag faculty.
Last, but certainly not least, is LLC’s Horticulture Club. The Horticulture Club also provides educational and social opportunities for students. Barkley mentions that the club is pretty informal but quite fun, as the group will often meet up for different activities and take part in annual fundraising events that are geared toward horticulture. In the past, the club has sold various plants and pumpkins which they raised. Their pumpkins even provided the opportunity for other LLC clubs to take part in a pumpkin carving/painting contest! The group often visits various greenhouses in the area, particularly the White Side Botanical Gardens in Charleston.
If you are interested in learning more about or joining one of these three great LLC agriculture-based clubs, please reach out to Dyke Barkley at [email protected].
