Lake Area Technical Institute Joins S.D. Farmers Union for College Conference on Cooperatives

Throughout the conference, students toured a number of cooperatives and heard from representatives and farmers from traditional and value-added agricultural cooperatives, housing and worker-owned co-ops, and consumer cooperatives.

 They also gained insight into cooperative development, as well as the challenges facing the industry from current cooperative leaders, farmers and members.

 “This conference allowed me to network with people from all over the country and learn viewpoints of those involved in different aspects of agriculture, like organic farmers and how they provide local stores with produce,” says Kyle Smidt, a student who is pursuing an ag business degree from Lake Area Technical Institute.

 Miles and Smidt were among a large group of Lake Area Technical Institute students who attended the College Conference on Cooperatives and were sponsored by South Dakota Farmers Union.

 “Cooperative education is a foundation of South Dakota Farmers Union educational programing,” explains Rachel Haigh-Blume, S.D. Farmers Union Education Director. “It’s important to give post-secondary students a new view on cooperatives and how they serve urban environments.”

 These are the reasons that Farmers Union continues to invest in CCOC.

 “This conference gave students a cooperative experience they may have never seen and an extra tour for South Dakota by adding the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative tour on our way,” says Haigh-Blume. “They met with cooperative owners, learned how intensive the agronomy side of production is, learned how intensive and expensive harvest equipment and timing can be, and toured a beet sugar cooperative facility to see their byproducts and sugar first hand. There are students at the conference from all across the United States and other countries, giving them an opportunity to talk about various farming practices and cooperatives where they live.”

 In addition to visiting several area cooperatives, they also toured the Mill City Museum, a river-front museum built into the ruins of what was once the world’s largest flour mill.

Students from Lake Area Technical Institute join S.D. Farmers Union for College Conference on Cooperatives held in Minnesota.