Terre Haute, Ind. (WTHI) - From livestock to drones students gathered at Ivy Tech to learn about subjects related to farming and tech.
"We've invited about 220 high school students to compete in different contests that are ag. related" John Rosene with Ivy Tech in Terre Haute says.
Friday was Ivy Tech's annual Ag Expo. Students participated in various contests related to agriculture. The contests were designed to emulate real-life ag concepts.
"Livestock judging, soil judging, we've got a power tool drag race, they're flying drones, you name it. These are all ag related concepts so they are using skills they learned in high school in their ag classes to compete" Rosene says.
Organizers say the agriculture industry is filled with older members looking to retire. Younger workers are needed and events like these can inspire students to pursue a career in the field.
"Most young people don't even think about ag as a potential career. So what we are trying to do is educate them about all of the different jobs and the diversity of careers in agriculture. It's not just 'farming' it's not just working out in the fields, it's technology jobs" Rosene says.
Organizers want students to prepare for technology jobs that are very similar to the contests being held at the expo Friday.
"Flying drones and gps technology and variable application rates of chemicals so there's a lot of really high tech high paying jobs out there and we are trying to raise awareness of those jobs" Rosene says.
