Do you think learning about Sustainable Agricultural is important?

Would you like to help keep the Sustainable Agriculture program going at NWTC?

We are meeting this Friday, May 1st at 6 p.m. at the NWTC Landscape & Horticulture Building / GB Botanical Gardens to discuss the termination of the Sustainable Food and Agriculture Systems program.

The address is: 2600 Larsen Rd, Green Bay, WI 54303. Picture attached, park in Lot 4 or 5.

The focus of this meeting is to understand all that has happened so far/get up to speed, discuss ways to engage the public and spread the word, draft letters of support for the program, plan any communication or requests of NWTC. It’s supper time, please bring snacks, food, beverages….or dish to pass:) 

Please share this widely and invite anyone who has concerns or would like to be included. If people want to participate virtually, we can work on that option and share any appropriate links in the coming days. 

Erin Lenninger 
Conservation Coordinator
Wisconsin Farmers Union

Learn More about the NWTC Sustainable Ag program

The sustainable agriculture program at NWTC is the only one of its kind in Wisconsin. The program teaches a variety of farming and homesteading skills to prepare our students to either start their own business or work on another farm. The program teaches large scale agricultural skills like field crops, botany, grazing, livestock care, and organic certification, in addition to small scale craft skills like canning, beekeeping, herbalism, and butchery.

On site NWTC has a market garden, that donates food to the on campus pantry and gives to students and faculty for optional donations only. The program collaborates with community organizations of all types of host events and demonstrations. The program teaches gardening classes with the botanical gardens, and it regularly host teaching sessions with local nonprofits.

Some of the NWTC courses (incomplete list): 

– Industry knowledge: Food Systems, Food Quality, Farm Finance, Permaculture Design, Food Safety, Soil science

– Scaleable skills: field crops, livestock management, botany, grazing, poultry management, tools and equipment, tractor driving  

– Small farm skills: beekeeping, organic gardening, cheesemaking, butchery and artisan meats, aquaponics/aquaculture 

There is no other program that will teach you this variety and depth of content entirely from the ground up. The program takes students with any level of experience and graduate confident and capable producers who are able to contribute to a local food system wherever they are (rural, urban, or suburban). 

The graduates go on to support all levels of the food industry in our area and surrounding states. They are often farmers, but also business owners, consultants, cheese makers, herbalists, conservationists, agronomists, and food system professionals of all kinds. 

To sign up for this program is to gain access to an entire lifestyle. It is more than a job, it is a vocation, and a commitment to the idea that anyone should be able to grow their own food or make a living supplying it to their neighbor. Students cannot get this anywhere else.

Please join us Friday night to learn more about how to help support sustainable agriculture education.