Out of a desire to give students more hands-on experience with agriculture and livestock, Sweetwater County School District No. 2 is hoping to swap land with the city in order to build barns for Green River High School’s Future Farmers of America program.
Liz Thoman, the agriculture and natural resources teacher at GRHS, spoke at Tuesday’s city council meeting “to chat about a proposed land swap to help benefit our high school and FFA program.”
Thoman is also the director of the FFA program at the high school. She explained FFA is a youth organization offering leadership training and setting students up for career success in agricultural fields. While FFA teaches principals and information, Thoman said the most benefit comes from Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs), which are out-of-classroom projects where students can apply the information they learn in hands-on settings.
In Green River, students don’t always have access to agricultural resources and opportunities, Thoman explained. She said one of the best opportunities for them is an ownership SAE which allows students to go through the process of owning, raising and selling their own animal. However, they usually don’t have access to the barn space needed to make the process possible. This is where the land swap comes in.
The GRHS FFA program wants to swap roughly 3 acres of land with the city in order to have space to build barns for FFA projects. The high school wants to swap a plot of land it owns by Roosevelt School, much of which is occupied by Collier Park, for a plot of land owned by the city near the horse corrals.
Thoman’s vision for the land includes a 30x40 foot metal sheep and goat barn with 10 to 12 indoor pens and 6x12 foot runs for the animals with a turnout area and a 30x80 foot swine barn, also with indoor pens, outdoor runs and a turnout area. She said these plans would give the animals optimal space and a healthy environment. Other features the land could include would be a storage building and a practice show pen. Thoman believes in the future there could also be potential for a beef barn and a greenhouse and land lab for plant science projects.
Currently there is a hog barn and sheep and goat barn run by Project Hope, but Thoman explained there is a long waiting list to get into the barns, and most FFA kids don’t have the opportunity to use that space for their projects. Having their own land and barns would give students the location and resources to raise their own animals and apply the concepts they learn in class.
Thoman said there are currently about 150 students enrolled in agriculture classes at the high school. About 65 students are actively involved in FFA, and most of them are “nontraditional ag students,” meaning they don’t have access or opportunities to experience agriculture on a regular basis. Having barns for projects would give students more access to agriculture and livestock experiences.
The land by the horse corals would also be a good location for economically disadvantaged students according to Thoman, since it is relatively easy to access and could be walked or biked to.
Thoman hopes the FFA program can continue to grow and expand in the future and even more students will be interested as they see other students start to get involved. She also hopes their plans and space could grow, but said 3 acres would be a great place for the program to start, and “it’s certainly more than [the students] have now.”
As far as funding for construction goes, Thoman is confident the program could receive multiple grants from federal programs and the Perkins program, including a $200,000 grant they could apply for and other grants she has researched and received assurance they could receive.
As far as the timeline is concerned, Thoman just wants to be able to build the barns “as soon as possible.”
Green River’s director of public works Mark Westenskow said there are still a few details to be figured out regarding the land, but making the space work for FFA is “certainly something we want to help them figure out how to do.”
Several council members expressed support for the idea, including Gary Killpack, Sherry Bushman and Robert Berg.
“We’re 100% behind this,” Mayor Pete Rust said.
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