KCC labs could aid agriculture

Bond measure would help farming with new facilities

By DD BIXBY
H&N Staff Writer

April 10, 2008

Page B4

   Hay is growing on 50 acres near the front parking lot of Klamath Community College , a fitting use for land that college officials hope will host new natural resource and agriculture classrooms and labs. 

   The planned vocational lab in the hay field is the focus of the college’s $12.4-million bond measure on the May primary ballot. 

   Plans seek expansion of the current technical programs at KCC and offer more hands-on lab training, said KCC President Gerald Hamilton. Agriculture and natural resources play a big role in those programs. 

   Two new labs to support agriculture programs and two science labs for health programs would augment the college’s current lab, which operates at full capacity days and evenings throughout the week, said Keith Duren, department chairman of KCC natural resource systems. 

   Competition for labs 

   With students studying multiple disciplines and general education requirements, there is competition for coveted 24-station lab time that hampers the ability to create new programs, officials say. 

   “It’s spread thinner than one may think,” Duren said. “It’s a struggle.” 

   Some of the newer programs include a veterinary technician program. The nearest program is in Portland and it is constantly turning people away despite a big demand for these professionals, Duren said. 

    Hamilton and Duren said supporting such a program in K la mat h County would be a boon for local residents, but more space — especially lab space for animal and reproductive physiology and other similar courses — would be a necessity. 

   Another possibility is developing a transfer degree with Oregon State University for general agriculture and an agriculture education major. 

   “Any time we can help students stay in the Basin — just think how advantageous that would be for their parents,” Hamilton said.

Training farm workers 

   In addition to expanding and creating programs, the new labs could provide space to teach farm implement repair, engine maintenance or crop certification, and offer a place to train farm employees. 

   “Maybe the farmer himself knows everything about hay, but workers …” Duren said. “Being able to train a work force so you can turn them loose is going to be an advantage.”

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