Seed Donation Boosts Big Bend Agriculture Program

Seed Donation Boosts Big Bend Agriculture Program

MOSES LAKE —Big Bend Community College’s Agriculture program recently received a generous donation of commercial seeds valued at more than $30,000 from Eric Williamson of Williamson Farms, Inc. in Quincy, Washington. The donation will significantly support hands-on learning in several agriculture courses and help offset one of the program’s largest recurring expenses.

The donation includes a wide variety of seeds—carrots, beans, tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, melons, cucumbers, and corn—that will all be used by students in our Crop Production, Plant Science, and Pest Management courses.

Agriculture Professor Dr. Aaron Mahoney said the donation will have a lasting impact on student learning.

“This support enables our students to gain hands-on experience in plant development, crop nutrition, genetics, breeding, disease and insect management, and crop water needs,” said Mahoney. “Moreover, with our new greenhouse, students will have the opportunity to manage and grow a wider variety of crops, deepening their insights into agricultural production and agronomy (plant and soil sciences).”

The new Greenhouse Learning Center, which is currently nearing completion, will be a 30-by-70-foot facility located behind the college’s Workforce Education Center. It will feature precision growing technologies, heating and cooling systems, and raised garden beds outside the structure to expand growing space. The new greenhouse will supplement an older, smaller facility located across campus and will offer greater accessibility to where current agriculture classes are held—enhancing both instruction and student engagement.

Mahoney added that this donation was made possible through the efforts of Garrett Devine, a former Big Bend Ag student and current member of the BBCC Agriculture advisory board. Devine’s conversation with Williamson about the program’s need for additional seeds played a key role in securing the contribution, he said.

For more information about Big Bend’s Agriculture program, visit https://www.bigbend.edu/academics/agriculture/