MARYVILLE, Mo. –$250,000 in matching funds released Wednesday by the office of Gov. Jay Nixon will go towards Northwest Missouri State University to support construction of the University’s planned Agricultural Learning Center.
In total, the Governor made available nearly $67.4 million across the state for early childhood education, college scholarships, workforce training and other priority investments.
“Northwest thanks Gov. Nixon for his support of the Agricultural Learning Center and certainly higher education and other projects,” Northwest President Dr. John Jasinski said. “Sen. Dan Hegeman and Rep. Allen Andrews have also been instrumental in voicing support for our leadership and continuing growth of agriculture as a signature program at Northwest.”
Plans for the Agricultural Learning Center, which is being largely funded by donors, call for an $8.5 million facility encompassing 24,000 square feet of multi-use space that will include a lecture hall, laboratory space, meeting facilities and an exposition hall, all designed to meet the needs of the University and its students, the agriculture industry and the broader community.
The Agricultural Learning Center will be situated north of the Northwest campus on the University’s 448-acre R.T. Wright Farm, which is home to beef, swine, dairy, poultry and sheep herds as well as row, silage and hay crops.
In addition to supporting the University’s agriculture programming at the Wright Farm, the facility will support FFA and 4-H youth functions, including educational activities and contests; agricultural industry meetings, training workshops and events; equipment and product demonstrations; local, regional and national livestock shows and sales; agricultural literacy training; food processing; agricultural banquets and other events of interest to agricultural commodity groups in Missouri, Iowa and beyond.
Jasinski praised state legislators and said Northwest will encourage them to continue seeking avenues for matching funding, calling the model “an outstanding vehicle to help fund academic investment.”
“The Agricultural Learning Center and our agricultural sciences program are strategic priorities,” Jasinski said. “This matching gift helps us leverage other gifts from donors and illustrates the state’s commitment to agricultural sciences, Northwest, our students and ag-related partners. The match also will assist in moving us closer to the construction phase as we continue to be the regional leader in agricultural education, partner with ag producers and growers, and provide outreach to youth and a variety of organizations.”
About Northwest’s School of Agricultural Sciences
Northwest boasts a thriving School of Agricultural Sciences that is experiencing rapid growth. In fact, 9.2 percent of Northwest’s undergraduates are agriculture students, which amounts to more than 500 students each year who are getting hands-on, profession-based experience in the field. Additionally, nearly 99 percent of them find employment or continue their education upon graduation.
The School offers seven agricultural majors in business, education, science, agronomy, animal science, animal science-pre vet and horticulture, in addition to seven minors, a two-year farm operations certificate and three master’s programs. The School draws students from not only the four-state region, but throughout the U.S. and internationally.