Kilgore College Ag Farm

OVERTON, TX -- As college students begin to wind down from taking finals, America’s agricultural producers are “gearing up” for the Christmas holiday season. In effect, this is the time for agriculture to “step out and shine,” according to Bob Young, Kilgore College agriculture instructor and farm manager.

“Our Kilgore College students and students across this land are taking final exams and preparing for some slack time between semesters,” said Young. “At the same time, our agriculture producers are preparing to feed the masses of America a healthy, plentiful Christmas dinner. This traditionally is considered the ‘feast time’ of the year and our agriculture producers are called on to provide food for an ever increasing number of people.”

Young said more turkeys, hams, beef products, eggs, vegetables, breads, pastries, and dressing are expected to be served than ever before in history. Add to that list the under-used cranberry sauce, which makes a spectacular appearance on most tables during the holidays.

“We have more people in this country who are living longer and learning to eat more nutritious foods, especially during the Christmas season,” Young noted.

Young said this expectation is a huge tribute to the agricultural industry, although production activity occurs throughout the year with little fanfare.

“Our industry receives far too little credit for the work they perform all year, and especially during the Christmas/New Year time when so much emphasis is on various kinds of foods,” the KC instructor pointed out.

What this prominently indicates, Young said, is the growing opportunities for students in all phases of agriculture, especially in areas not before considered as part of traditional production agriculture (building materials, clothing, footwear, etc.). He said examples could be found under the KC agriculture program web site www.KilgoreCollegeAgFarm.org and click “Careers.”

“There are literally dozens of exciting, challenging careers available to students who are not interested solely in production agriculture,” he said. “Today’s agriculture is a complex expandable medley of aggressive economic activities. That’s a fancy way to say that agriculture offers students more opportunities---across the board--- than any single industry.”

From an attorney to certified public accountant to medical doctor to zoo management. Those and many more non-traditional careers are available under the mammoth agriculture umbrella. Several of the traditional ones will combine their expertise to offer up delicious scrumptious goodies as Americans feast during the upcoming holidays.

Young said he believes we will see a modest increase in the number of Americans raising some of their own food and more consumers requesting that American-grown food be offered at supermarkets.

“So many questions and concerns are being raised about food products grown in third world countries which do not have rigid USDA regulations or inspections,” he points out. “This fact shows that consumers have strong confidence in American agriculture. It is important to consider, however, people with home gardens control all inputs and know exactly what they’re eating and how it is produced.”