Forage Enthusiasts

There are so many opportunities that students have access to here in the Agronomy Department, which is one of my favorite things about this department! 

One of my recent adventures was being a member of the Forage Bowl Team! Myself and three other undergraduate students were given the opportunity to be a member of the Forage Bowl Team and go to the American Forage and Grasslands Conference in Wichita, Kansas. While forages is not really my primary interest area, it was really fun to be a part of the team and learn about forage production. We had a great time traveling with our professor, Dr. Keith Johnson, and competing in the jeopardy style quiz bowl against other colleges. At AFGC, we also had the opportunity to attend sessions and learn about hot topics in the forage production industry!

Now you may be wondering about the title of this post, “Forage Enthusiast”! Our professor and coach, who loves forages and the industry, often used this term when addressing his forages class! We decided that it would be a great and fun team name for us! We even made ourselves some shirts, which were a huge hit at the conference where we were surrounded by many ‘forage enthusiasts’! 

If you are a student coming into Purdue, I cannot say enough good things about the numerous opportunities like this one, and many others. It is a chance to learn something unique, and have fun while doing it! I would really encourage everyone to try something like this. Maybe it is a bit out of your comfort zone, but you never know what you might like until you try it!