Youth News
Introducing Sage Counts of the Latta FFA Chapter, Your Southeast District Star in Agriscience
Fri, 14 Apr 2017 11:30:34 CDT
During the month of April, the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and Oklahoma Farm Report is spotlighting the twenty District Stars of Oklahoma FFA that are among the highest achievers in the organization. The stars come from the five districts in four categories- Star in Ag Placement, Star in Agriscience, Star in Agribusiness and Star in Production Agriculture. Last week, we spotlighted the five district stars in Ag Placement- this week we move on to the Agriscience Stars for 2017.
We end this week with our final highlight of the District Stars in Agriscience, Sage Counts of the Latta FFA Chapter, representing the Southeast District. Counts conducted an experiment centered on testing the efficiency of innovative modern farming practices compared with traditional practices.
"My project was about vertical farming," she said. "The whole project was to determine if vertical farming can produce more produce in a less amount of space compared to conventional farming."
Counts set up her experiment using 5" PVC fence posts as towers, set in place diagonally with net pots hanging off them for the plants to grow. During the experiment, she grew tomatoes, bell peppers and lettuce.
"After a period, I measured the amount of produce that I had with vertical farming and I compared it to the amount of space that I used with conventional farming," she explained. "I learned that vertical farming will produce a lot more produce in a less amount of space compared to conventional farming."
While her experiment was on a very small scale, Counts says the research she has done can be widely applicable to larger scale operations, as modern agriculture continues to develop with innovative techniques geared towards feeding a growing world population.
"Vertical farming, once you get the towers that I had set up, it's actually really low maintenance and easy to do, and takes advantage of yearlong growing," Counts pointed out. "I think vertical farming can definitely be a solution to possibly feeding the world with the less amount of land that we're having."
Counts plans to attend Oklahoma State University and major in bio-systems engineering with a focus on natural environmental resources.
"I plan to take that major and become a soil and water resource engineer," she said, "and hopefully take some of the research I do in that major to missionary engineering."
You can hear her entire conversation with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, by clicking or tapping on the LISTEN BAR below.
A complete list of the District Stars can be seen on the Oklahoma FFA website by clicking or tapping here.
Our salute of the 2017 District Stars of the Oklahoma FFA is brought to you by American Farmers & Ranchers, proud to support Oklahoma's youth. Visit the AFR website by clicking or tapping here to learn more on how AFR supports the young people of Oklahoma, and how AFR can provide you with quality insurance for your home, auto, farm, and life.
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