Sen. Todd Young (R-IN). Photo: Eric Pfeiffer / Hoosier Ag Today.
A bill that provides more funding for ag education programs at community colleges has been co-introduced by Sen. Todd Young (R-IN).
“This will give our farmers the tools they need for the future,” says Young about the Community College Agriculture Advancement Act. It’s a bi-partisan bill that would provide additional funding for ag workforce training, education, and research programs at community colleges.
“Obviously, running a farm is complicated. Our workers need to be up-to-date on how to use the latest technologies, how they can make them more productive, and how they can grow into certain critical fields like precision agriculture and agribusiness, which will lead to more profits and higher incomes for our farmers and rural communities alike,” says Young.
One of the many community colleges that would be eligible to receive additional funding for ag education through the legislation is Ivy Tech Community College.
“Ivy Tech is embracing this with great enthusiasm. For the Ivy Techs of the world, they will now be eligible—once this legislation passes and is signed into law—for all kinds of grant funding,” according to Young. “Ivy Tech can purchase equipment and other infrastructure, they can advance the professional growth and development of their faculty, and they can develop apprenticeships and other work-based learning opportunities for our important farming communities so they continue to thrive.”
Young says the funding for more ag education programs not only attracts more skilled members of the workforce to the ag industry, but it also makes it easier to bring the latest ag technology to Indiana’s farms.
“In order for farmers to stay relevant, they need access to the workforce training that is relevant in this really dynamic farming economy,” says Young. “That’s why the Community College Agriculture Advancement Act provides money specifically to encourage collaboration between Ivy Tech, our land-grant colleges, and other stakeholders who have access to the latest and greatest technology and workforce-training knowledge.”
The legislation would currently authorize $20 million in federal funding per fiscal year from 2024 through 2029.
In addition to Sen. Young, Senators John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) also introduced this legislation. U.S. Representatives Trent Kelly (R-MS-01) and Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24) are leading the House version of this bill.
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Legislative text for the bill can be found here. A summary of the bill can be found here.
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