Horticulture Enterprise Management

The production of local fruit and vegetables  is a rapidly expanding segment of Iowan agriculture. The ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’  HORT 465 class focuses on educating and training future growers in the management and operation of diversified horticultural enterprises’ on an Iowa farm situation.

Malcolm Robertson, who coordinates the Leopold Center's Cross-Cutting Initiative, teaches this new pilot class that began during the Spring 2011 semester.

The on-farm learning gives students hands on experience in

• horticultural enterprise planning (budgeting, crop scheduling, record keeping and  marketing)
• crop production (rotation planning, crop nutrition, crop protection, food safety and postharvest  handling), and
• practical implementation of the decisions made by the class.

Management of the finances, production and marketing is performed by the students enrolled in the program. The course is structured as a business and is guided through decisions made by five student committees (finance; operations; production; and marketing committees), which  are overseen by a business committee.

Each committee investigates the feasibility of a desired enterprise according to the demands of their respective areas before coming together under the direction of the business committee to make a final decision.
 

'Dream Green Iowa' radio program

Cross-cutting initiative leader Malcolm Robertson was interviewed in 2011 about his work with students at the ISU Hort Farm where they are growing vegetables in a high tunnel. Listen to report that is part of KRUU-FM's 'Dream Green Iowa' series.