The Southwest Ag Summit took place for the first time at Arizona Western College on March 6-7. More than 750 registrants participated in educational and informational sessions held in the Ag & Science Building, listened to industry leaders from the around the nation in the Schoening Conference Center, networked in the courtyard and visited with some 90 vendors throughout the 3C and on the lawn outside. Several AWC student clubs including Ag, Math, Engineering and Science served as ambassadors for the many participants.
The organizing committee decided to come to AWC not only because of the great facilities but ultimately to emphasis the importance of education in the agricultural sciences industry.
"We were very excited about the opportunity to bring the Summit to Arizona Western College," said Steve Alameda, President of the Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association.
"As the Summit continues to grow, we are looking to expand the educational and networking opportunities," continued Alameda. "By bringing the speakers and conference participants back to their agriculture education roots, we were able to connect the future of the industry with current, active industry leaders."
Summit participants came from all over Arizona, California, northern Mexico and even as far as Australia. The educational sessions covered emerging technologies in controlling pests, increasing fertilizer and irrigation efficiency and the latest machinery advancements. Vendors impressed participants by displaying new products, machinery and software.
The Wednesday morning speakers discussed regulatory updates for Arizona and California pest management. The Thursday morning keynote from Rik Miller, President of DuPont Crop Protection, discussed the future of chemical pest control in a global world; and the afternoon speakers, former legislature Russ Jones and former head of the Arizona Department of Water Resources Herb Guenther, discussed Yuma County's water rights and the future of water in the desert Southwest.
The AWC Agricultural Sciences Department has been participating in the Summit for the past four years, but hosting the event brought many new opportunities for current agriculture majors. All of the Ag majors were able to register free, and many of them were asked to volunteer by supporting the registration table, the high school presentations and the Continuing Education Units registration.
The Ag Sciences Department not only managed the student volunteers and educational sessions, but it also organized a "career summit" for local high school students with the University of Arizona. Local Ag businesses paid for the transportation of 125 students from six local high schools to the event.
The students listened to a keynote address from local industry leader Vic Smith of JV Smith Companies, then participated in six breakout sessions where they heard from top Ag researchers, current Ag students and graduates and the Summit vendors. The program shows students the relevance of being a professional in the Ag industry as well as the vast array of education and career opportunities.
Overall the Summit was a big success, and AWC looks forward to hosting our local industry members next year.
According to AWC President Glenn Mayle, "The planners of the SW Ag Summit were so impressed with our beautiful campus and our facilities, that they are scheduling the 2014 summit at Arizona Western College.
"I want to thank everyone involved in bringing this event to our campus," said Mayle. "Because this is such a big event and involves so much of our campus, which we want to continue to showcase, I want you to have as much advance notice as possible of the dates for 2014 SW Ag Summit -- Feb. 25-27, 2014, to be held at Arizona Western College."
Photos by Alberto Urbieta
