Professionals highlight careers in agriculture during WCFA event

CARBONDALE, Ill. — American Farmland Trust focuses on protecting farmland, keeping farmers on the land and promoting sound farming practices.

“I do a lot of education and outreach on conservation ag practices in Illinois and across the Midwest region,” said Marlee Giacometti, Midwest program specialist for AFT.

“A lot of the work I do focuses on crop diversification, as well as soil health and all the different practices that farmers can implement on their farms to make them more resilient,” said Giacometti during Women Changing the Face of Agriculture at Southern Illinois University, organized by Illinois Agri-Women.

Although she attended a rural high school, Giacometti did not plan for a career in the agricultural industry.

“I wasn’t in FFA and I didn’t think farming was in my future, so I studied conservation and environmental science in college,” she said. “I really got into soils and our food system, which led me back to agriculture.”

Giacometti worked on a farm after obtaining her college degree.

“That really enforced my love for farming,” she said. “I highly recommend apprenticeships where you can work on a farm for a year and learn about all different types of farm management.”

During her apprenticeship, Giacometti learned how to care for cattle and manage a rotational grazing system and she managed a vegetable production farm.

“There’s a lot of really cool opportunities out there that can teach you valuable tools,” she said.

The Midwest program specialist talked about different cover crops during her presentation at the career exploration event.

“Cover crops can increase the water holding capacity of soils so the water from a high rainfall event doesn’t run right off the field with excess nutrients and sediment,” she explained.

“Cover crops also prevent erosion from wind so it’s really important to not have bare soil in the off-season,” she said. “When it gets really windy, that’s when we lose a lot of our topsoil.”

Giacometti showed the young women several examples of cover crops growing in containers including rye grass, hairy vetch and buckwheat.

“Buckwheat has tiny, white flowers, so not only does it provide soil health benefits, the flowers attract honeybees,” she said. “On our farm, my dad has honeybees, we make honey and since the bees love buckwheat, the honey gets this dark, rich red color.”

A demonstration showed differences between no-till and tilled soils during a rainfall event.

“We’re going to pour water into these containers and that will simulate what happens when rain hits bare soil,” Giacometti said.

“How much water is in the bottom reservoirs is really important because we don’t see what happens underground,” she said. “The no-till soil will infiltrate more water during a heavy rainfall event.”

In the spring, fields can be flooded because the water is not percolating through the soil, Giacometti said.

“The ability of water to move through instead of across the surface is a huge benefit of no-till and that helps with erosion prevention, as well,” she said.

How Electric Circuits Work

Jeff Wagley, manager of educational partnerships for the Kubota Tractor Corporation, talked about the Kubota tech certificates that are available to students.

“We are looking for students from ag mech classes to come into this program,” he said.

The program is offered at 36 locations, including Lake Land College in Mattoon. Students in this program learn how to work with specialty tools and Kubota’s diagnostic tool.

“Kubota is a Japanese-based company and the Kubota Tractor Corporation was formed in California in 1972,” Wagley said. “So, we’re very new.”

Kubota sells a skid steer that is equipped with tracks.

“That was born in 2007,” Wagley said. “Our RTV is one of the few gas vehicles we have, all the other vehicles are diesel and our hay equipment is something that Kubota is known for.”

Students also learned about electrical circuits during the hands-on session.

“There are three basic circuits when it comes to electricity,” Wagley said. “On the big board in front of you, there is a series circuit, and if something is interrupted in that line of electricity, it’s not going to work.”

The board contained an example of a parallel circuit.

“So, if one side doesn’t work, the other side will work,” Wagley said. “That’s what you have on your car to make the lights work.”

The third circuit on the board included a mix of series and parallel circuits.

“You have an open circuit when the switch is off,” Wagley said. “For the last circuit, both of the switches have to be down for it to work.”