Dakota College at Bottineau recently hosted faculty and students from Dickinson State University who traveled to Bottineau to look at the two year college’s programs.

According to a press release, Dakota College provides skills and knowledge in controlled environmental agriculture.

Programming is offered in greenhouse technology, floral design, aquaponics, hydroponics, and vegetable production in high tunnels.

Dakota College at Bottineau’s Entrepreneurial Center for Horticulture and Dickinson State University’s Agriculture and Technical Studies program received a USDA National Institute of Agriculture grant to expand the agriculture industry in North Dakota through programs in higher education.

According to the release, the collaboration will increase education and outreach opportunities in specialty crop production.

Dakota College at Bottineau has a well-established program that prepares both students and clients who work in agriculture with training in how to run successful specialty crop enterprises. It offers certification and associate degrees in specialty crop production. It boasts that this is the only program of its kind in this part of the country. Dickinson State’s agriculture and technical studies program is a traditionally-focused four year agriculture program. Collaboration between the two schools will capitalize on each institution’s strengths to increase the quality of agriculture education in both institutions.

According to the release, the project enhances agricultural education by deepening student awareness and understanding of the diversity and complexity of modern agriculture and food systems. This project takes principles of specialty crop production developed for Dakota College’s two-year vocational-training focused program and integrates them across many disciplines within Dickinson State University’s agricultural curriculum.

It also has the advantage of broadening the scope and making agricultural education more accessible to a greater number of students and will provide students with more opportunities than if either school had tried to develop a new sustainable agriculture program alone.