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How important is it to have a college degree if you are going into an agricultural industry?
That’s the question that Coleman Fitzgerald posed to Orangeburg County Farm Bureau President Roland Moorer, and Moorer’s answer was simple enough: It’s very important.
“Farming is more than just getting on a tractor,” Moorer said. “If you don’t do anything else ... just get a business degree.
“I think we would all recommend going to college,” he said. “I was forced into going, and it was absolutely the right thing to do.”
Fitzgerald was one of 10 Agricultural Club members along with Taylor Vadon, Jenna Denton, Nicole Carter, Michelle Carter, Brooke Barnes, Wes Palmer, Christina Merritt, Tiffany Hopkins and instructor Stan Gordon to make the trip from Shasta Community College in Redding, Calif., to be on hand for the meeting with Moorer and Farm Bureau members Brian Dantzler and Tommy Turner at Antley’s Barbecue recently.
Fitzgerald’s family owns a ranch in Northern California that is home to 180 head of cattle. Both of his parents work outside jobs – his father is a health inspector and his mother is a nurse – while also managing the ranch. One day, Fitzgerald said he plans on running the family business, but until then he said he often feels like he is wasting time in school.
“But I actually agree with them a lot,” he said. “A lot of kids that I graduated with are involved in agriculture, and they have jobs. A lot of them have taken over their family ranch. I would like to get the edge on them, and I think that college could maybe help me learn some new techniques.”
For close to an hour, the group discussed issues facing those in the agricultural industry in both California and Orangeburg.
“It’s good to hear they are having some of the same challenges as we are with labor and some of the government regulations,” he said. “It was also good to hear some of their differences.”
According to Gordon, a major difference was the type of products the two areas produce.
“In Northern California we are real big on cattle and on alfalfa grass production,” he said. “To the south of us, they have a lot of almond trees.
“It was good to hear the differences in what they produced,” he said. “And it was good to hear how they have been able to adapt to the markets that have worked best for them.”
Moorer said that he felt his group may have actually learned more from the agricultural club.
“We don’t see other parts of the country much, and we certainly got to learn how they do some things,” he said. “We listened, and then we tried our best to explain what we do.”
Turner marveled at the amount of young women in the club. Six of the nine student members were female, but according to Gordon that is not uncommon in California. Many of the students were in FFA in high school and joined the club to be with those who had similar interests.
“Actually, in California around 60 percent of the students who come through our program are female,” he said.
But before they got to the issues like the one above, the group enjoyed Antley’s buffet.
“I love the sweet tea ... It’s so good,” said club member Jenna Denton. “We don’t have sweet tea like this in California, and when we got down here, I ordered some tea and when it came it was just so good.”
According to Denton – who said she may want to be an agricultural science teacher one day – the group was allowed to vote on which states to visit. It came down to North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. The Carolinas won.
And before their stop in Orangeburg, the group had already taken in several places along the way, including Hendrick Motor Sports and a chicken-processing plant. But it was the little things on the road to Orangeburg that many seemed to notice. Denton marveled at the amount of wisteria that grew naturally in South Carolina. Back home in California, she said she has a small patch of wisteria that she has grown on her own.
Michelle Carter noticed the price of housing. In California, many houses cost considerably more than comparable houses in South Carolina.
“It just makes you want to cry,” she said with a smile.
If Carter ever did cry, it probably didn’t last for long. The group was scheduled to head to Charleston and the beach the next morning, and according to Gordon the club’s trip was scheduled to wrap up within a week.
“We sure appreciate these guys taking time out of their busy schedule to come and visit with us,” he said. “We enjoyed the really good food and the really good people.”