Agriculture
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What is Agriculture?
Agriculture is a diverse discipline with a variety of career opportunities. At its core, agriculture focuses on the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock to provide food and other consumable and industrial products. The agriculture industry has evolved to give opportunities in agriculture linked to traditional crop and livestock production to more modern applications in the agriculture industry including precision agriculture, biotechnology, and more!
Why IVCC Agriculture?
Come Grow With Us! IVCC Agriculture provides opportunities for students to find and carry out their passion for agriculture. Students get hands-on experience using some of the newest innovative technology in agriculture while conducting research in our crop and soil sciences lab and working with the latest agriculture equipment on our campus farm. A diverse range of courses enables students to learn about all aspects of the agriculture industry from plants and animals to business and mechanics. IVCC Agriculture has partnered with local companies to provide internships and job opportunities for ag students. Students can get help paying for their education via IVCC Foundation scholarships, which total over $50,000! This makes IVCC Agriculture an affordable option for those considering a career in the industry.
Program Options:
Growing Your Knowledge in Agriculture:
Courses are primarily offered in a traditional, campus-based classroom setting with hands-on learning activities built into the courses. Our small class size allows us to provide more one-on-one instructional opportunities to students and options to explore more diversified learning experiences. IVCC has a 150-acre campus farm, 26 acres of which are farmed and managed by the students. In the lab, students are taught the basic lab skills needed ranging from how to estimate crop yields to doing a complete soil analysis should students pursue a career in agriculture. Whether you are registered for a lecture or lab-based course, students are given a variety active learning opportunities. Check out our list of current course offerings:
Fall Course Offerings
Spring Course Offerings
Student Activities
With over 40 student clubs and academic organizations on campus, there are plenty of opportunities for students interested in becoming involved in the community on campus. Students have the opportunity to participate in student government, community service projects, and clubs geared towards specific academic content areas. In the agriculture department, students can participate in Ag Club, join state and national competitions through participation in PAS and NACTA, or become more engaged in the community with leadership and networking opportunities as an Ag Ambassador.
Ag Ambassadors
IVCC Ag Ambassadors are student representatives who attend agriculture networking and recruitment events to share their experiences with the community and future students. Ag Ambassadors are selected from student applicants who are eager to share a student to student perspective on how a degree or certificate from IVCC Agriculture can and has helped them achieve their goals.
IVCC Ag Club
The Ag Club is a student organization associated with the agriculture program at IVCC. Its purpose is to enrich knowledge of agriculture through activities, leadership, and involvement. Members plan fundraisers and community events, attend socials, and compete at the Professional Agriculture Student (PAS) Organization annual conference. All IVCC students are invited to join Ag Club, regardless of their affiliation with the agriculture program.
North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Judging Conference
Students in the IVCC Agriculture program have the opportunity to participate in the annual NACTA Judging Conference. This conference is a national event that has been hosted in Nebraska, California, Idaho, Texas, and in 2026 will be hosted by Illinois State University in Bloomington, Illinois. Students apply their knowledge and compete with participants from across North America in categories including crops, livestock management, dairy cattle, soils, and more.
Professional Agriculture Student Organization (PAS)
IVCC Agriculture students also have the opportunity to participate in PAS. PAS prepares collegiate agriculture students for the workforce through employment experience programs, networking opportunities, and organizational activities. Students can participate in PAS competitions at local, state, and national levels.
Check out all student clubs and organizations at IVCC here!
Professional Development and Career Exploration in Agriculture
IVCC Agriculture works to provide students the opportunity to build industry connections through guest speakers, field trips, and an annual job and internship fair so once they graduate, students are prepared to move forward in the career path of their choosing.
Career Options
There are a diverse array of opportunities for careers in agriculture. Whether you are interested in entering the industry upon completion of a 2-year degree at IVCC, or entering the industry after completing a higher degree once you transfer to a 4-year institute, there is a career that can fit your passion.
Explore the variety of careers available in agriculture at mynextmove.orgEarn and Learn:
Selected IVCC students will be given the opportunity to work for GRAINCO FS or AgView FS while studying agriculture at IVCC. These opportunities include tuition reimbursement, paid internships, and summer jobs. Upon graduation from IVCC, students will be guaranteed three years of employment with GRAINCO FS or AgView FS and the opportunity to begin a career with the company. For more information, contact one of our program coordinators. Application deadline for Earn and Learn is typically in April.
Hands-On Lab Experiences
Outside of their internships, field trips, and career exploration opportunities, IVCC Agriculture courses include a variety of labs intended to teach skills required to succeed in the current industry. Students explore each of the following industries:
- Precision agriculture through tractor driving, tillage, planting, precision ag apps, and basic drone safety and flying skills
- Soil sciences through soil sampling, nutrient testing, and physical property evaluation
- Animal sciences through visits to beef, swine, dairy, small animal, and equine farm visits and feed analysis.
- Ag mechanics through application/learning of basic construction skills, land surveying, equipment maintenance, and engine operation
- Crop sciences through the planting and harvesting of 26 acres of the campus farm, field trips to local producers, grain elevators, and equipment dealerships, and participation in collecting data for on farm experiments.
- Cannabis production through cultivation of hemp plants, field trips to local conferences and/or production systems, HPLC cannabinoid analysis, cloning, and tissue culturing.
Internships:
IVCC Agriculture has worked with leaders in the agriculture industry to establish a variety of internship opportunities so that students can gain valuable hands-on experience preparing them for career success. Internship opportunities are almost endless! Interns work with cutting-edge technology and state-of-the-art equipment within the management, agronomy, precision ag, and animal and grain production sectors. For more information, contact one of our program coordinators today!
Agriculture Complex
In August 2025, IVCC broke ground on Phase II unveiling renderings of what will be
a state-of-the-art agricultural education center that will hold agriculture classroom
and lab spaces, faculty offices, and student collaboration space. This new building
will be named in honor of the late IVCC President Emeritus Dr. Alfred E Wisgoski thanks
to a generous gift from the Wisgoski family. Dr. Wisgoski served as the President
of IVCC for over two decades. To learn more about the new facilities or to see how
you can be a part of this exciting new step for IVCC Ag, visit the Ag Forward Campaign Website. The new Ag Complex will be housed on the college's 150-acre farm allowing for increased
hands on field and lab experiences for students. Phase I was completed in July 2020
with the construction of an agricultural storage and routine maintenance building.
Contact Us:
Interested in learning more about opportunities in agriculture at IVCC? Contact one of our program coordinators! We'd love to share all the exciting things happening in agriculture.
Willard Mott
Dr. Jennifer Timmers
Phone: 815-224-0495
E-mail: jennifer_timmers@ivcc.edu