Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC), a founding member of the Community College Alliance for Agriculture Advancement (C2A3), has announced a ground-breaking initiative with U.S. Department of Agriculture – Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS).
The $9 million, four-year program is part of a cooperative agreement between C2A3 and USDA-NRCS to create a national agriculture center for two-year colleges and connect more students to agriculture career pathways.
C2A3 is a collaboration of nine schools across eight states that began eight years ago as a 501c3 organization.
In addition to NICC, member schools are Central Lakes College, Staples, Minnesota; Clark State College, Springfield, Ohio; Illinois Central College, East Peoria, Illinois;
Ivy Tech Community College, Lafayette, Indiana; Lake Area Technical College, Watertown, South Dakota; Northcentral Technical College, Wausau, Wisconsin; Northeast Community College, Norfolk, Nebraska; Richland Community College, Decatur, Illinois.
C2A3 is expected to become a national hub for two-year ag education, developing expertise and regionally specific programming and curriculum that can be replicated across the country. Through this alliance, member colleges can access these resources and gain assistance in building partnerships with their local and state USDA-NRCS offices.
In addition, the national ag education consortium will encourage applied research and outreach activities on college farms and urban agriculture facilities. Several C2A3 schools, including NICC, already have continuous projects in place that are related to soil quality, water quality, urban agriculture, livestock and grazing.
Proposed projects include artificial intelligence and precision livestock; crop drainage and irrigation management; soil quality, field/pasture renovation and cover crops; water quality, pond and wetland management; silvopasture management; and urban agriculture.
Additionally, the expanded C2A3 consortium will also create internship opportunities and student leadership experiences that include real-life skills and networking with USDA employees. In addition, it will cover travel expenses for faculty and students to attend an annual conference and gain practical experiences and knowledge to put to future use.
For more information on C2A3, visit .