More than 1,000 students from more than 60 high school agriculture programs in the Southern District will participate in the Southwest Arkansas District Career Development Events on Thursday, March 22, on the campus of Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia.
Due to redistricting, the former Southwest District now includes about half of the former Southeast District.
“SAU was chosen as the CDE site over other institutions in the district largely due to the dedication of our faculty, staff, and students in the Department of Agriculture to put together quality events,” said Dr. Jeff Horne, associate professor of agricultural education.
According to Horne, this event is the first step in national competition. The top six teams in every event will advance from the Southern District to the state competition. State winners will compete in national events next October in Indianapolis, Ind.
SAU hosts several events including nursery/landscape, land, floriculture, dairy foods, livestock, poultry, forestry, agronomy, and farm business management.
According to the national FFA website, career development events are an important component of agricultural education programs.
These events allow FFA members to explore many of the more than 300 career opportunities in agriculture. They provide students an opportunity to work with their peers and teachers as well as community and business leaders as they prepare for the events.
Most events will center around Childs Hall, but some events will be out in different locations on the farm. Land will be held in one of the pastures, and forestry could possible be off campus.
For more information regarding the career development events to be held on the campus of SAU, call the Department of Agriculture at 870-235-4340.
