As the need for feeding an ever-growing population continues to expand, the School of Agricultural Sciences is poised to serve student interests and meet the needs of the agriculture, food and fiber industry today and in the future. Housed in the Dean L. Hubbard Center for Innovation, the School is close to demonstration plots on the campus' northern edge and its 448-acre R.T. Wright Farm, which is located four miles north of campus miles on Highway 71 and home to beef, swine, dairy and sheep enterprises as well as row and forage crops.
A current project within the school is the renovation to the McKemy Center for Lifelong Learning. The renovation will accommodate Northwest’s systems management for agribusiness and manufacturing. The project includes adding laboratory space and equipment as well as safety and infrastructure upgrades. Education in welding, precision measuring, electronics/electricity, mechatronics, and robotics will all offered this fall.
The school also recently opened the Agricultural Learning Center, a 29,000-square-foot facility that houses classrooms, laboratories, and exposition space adjacent to the university farm. The final component of the Agricultural Learning Center is the buildout of a micro creamery. Northwest operates a diversified herd of Jersey, Holstein, Brown Swiss and Guernsey. With the help of additional financial support, we will have the ability to process milk onsite and increase our profitability and agricultural literacy offerings.
