Connecting Agriculture in the Texas Panhandle
By Scout Odegaard - Guest Writer for the Friona Star
The panhandle of Texas has always been a hub in the wheel of American agriculture. Now that hub is focused at the corner of Russell Long Boulevard and WTAMU Drive in Canyon, Texas. West Texas A&M University opened its new agricultural sciences complex at the end of Summer 2018, ready to host students by the first day of the Fall 2018 semester.
The complex cost $48 million to build, the majority of which was funded by the Texas legislature’s approval of tuition bond spending, and the remaining amount came from generous donors who saw fit to invest in the future of agriculture in the panhandle.
Now that students are wrapping up their second full semester in the building, many are reflecting on how the complex has already positively impacted their college experience. To Colton Bourquin, a junior agriculture business and economics major and the incoming WTAMU student body president, the experience has been nothing but spectacular.
“The building allows for collaboration, private study time, and camaraderie with the faculty, staff, and students. I could not be more thankful for being allowed to pursue my degree in this amazing building,” Bourquin said.
The new complex has certainly impacted current WTAMU students, and made a strong impression on the nearly 3,000 students that competed in WTAMU’s annual FFA Career Development Events (CDE) on March 30th. Students and teachers from five different states traveled to the panhandle for one day to compete in this annual event, marking the first time the contest was held in the new facilities.
The CDE contest is just one of the many large events hosted at the new facilities since their completion, and that’s exactly the intention behind the new buildings. The new facilities will serve as the background to any and all kinds of agriculture-based events held in the panhandle. From livestock shows, auctions, and farm shows, the complex offers up a wide variety of diverse event spaces to outside interests.
This increased capability will allow the complex to bring together agriculturalists from across the Texas Panhandle as well as surrounding states.
“The building is designed to drive professionals, students and professors together into one space,” explained Micah Davidson, recruitment coordinator and graduate research assistant for the Department of Agriculture.
Even though the complex was not originally part of the WT125 initiative focused on serving the top 26 counties of the panhandle, it seems to perfectly meet that goal.
The regional impact might be slow to measure, but there has already been a visible change in the culture of the Department of Agricultural Sciences student body.
“I’m jealous of future students who will get to come into an already well developed culture and continue to build it,” admitted Davidson.
This positive shift to focus more on community within the department will help draw high-quality students who will be primed to impact their communities and industries in the panhandle when they graduate, all thanks to their experience with both fantastic department faculty and the learning potential in the new facilities.
For more information about the new facilities, or to schedule a tour, please call 806-651-2550.
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Scout Odegaard is a Senior Agriculture Media and Communications major and is double minoring in Political Science and Agriculture Business & Economics. Scout was born and raised in San Antonio Texas. She is involved in many different organizations across the WTAMU campus. She is the Student Body Vice President, a Rogers LEAD WT Scholar, and a participant in Buffalo Advertising and Agriculture Ambassadors. She currently works for WTAMU’s Office of Student Engagement and Leadership as a Student Activities Consultant. Upon her graduation in May 2020, it is Scout’s goal to attend graduate school and study Agriculture Policy. |
