FCPS touts potential of Locust Trace AgriScience Farm

Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Wednesday, September 22, 2010

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Guests scattered wildflower seeds after the groundbreaking at Locust Trace AgriScience Farm off Leestown Road.

Guests scattered wildflower seeds after the groundbreaking at Locust Trace AgriScience Farm off Leestown Road.

Guests scattered wildflower seeds after the groundbreaking at Locust Trace AgriScience Farm off Leestown Road.The working farm sits on 82 acres that the school district received at no cost through the federal government's surplus property program. Students handed out programs as visitors arrived on school bus shuttles, which picked them up at nearby Masterson Station Park.A few live animals -- two goats, two cows and a horse -- added to the festivities.Joe Norman, principal at Eastside Technical Center, and Superintendent Stu Silberman were among the platform speakers.A handful of Eastside students recited the FFA creed.Instead of the traditional row of ceremonial shovels, the superintendent and school board members put their hand to a plow at the groundbreaking.Locust Trace will open next fall to about 250 students.

Surrounded by rolling farmland and ambitious FFA students, Fayette County Public Schools officials broke ground Wednesday at its Locust Trace AgriScience Farm.

 

“There’s not going to be another place like this in the country,” Superintendent Stu Silberman told the crowd of some 300 supporters gathered at the construction site off Leestown Road.

 

When complete next fall, the $18 million working farm will feature a horse arena barn, classroom building, veterinary clinic, aquaculture lab, greenhouse, orchards, vineyards, gardens and wildlife habitat. Every bit of the 82-acre campus will be put to use as students delve into equine, plant, land and environmental science, biotechnology, agricultural power mechanics and animal husbandry. The school will also offer English, math and science classes with an agricultural focus.

 

“We are the horse capital of the world, and we need to have an equine center right here,” Silberman said. “We’re fortunate to have a (school) board with foresight that understands the needs of our community.”

 

He also thanked agricultural leaders who have stepped up to offer job shadowing, mentoring opportunities and real-world expertise.

 

In addition, as the school district’s first net-zero facility in water and energy use, Locust Trace is tapping the latest in high performance and sustainable building technology. Other green features will include a rainwater containment system, composting, constructed wetlands and permeable pavement.

 

“We’ll be saving on utility costs and saving the environment,” Silberman said. “Everything will come from the land right here.”

 

Locust Trace, which is on farmland that FCPS received at no cost from the federal government’s surplus property program, will open its doors in the fall of 2011 to about 250 students.

 

Kristen Arvin, the FFA president at Eastside Technical Center in 2008 and 2009, was among the platform speakers at the groundbreaking. Now an animal science and agriculture education major at the University of Kentucky, Arvin touted the activities offered by FFA and its supervised agricultural experiences, such as showing livestock and working in a greenhouse.

 

“Students attending Locust Trace are sitting on a goldmine of SAE opportunities,” she said.

 

M. Scott Smith, dean of UK’s College of Agriculture, noted that enrollment there is up 15 percent this fall.

 

“The highest area of demand is for those with practical skills,” he said, praising the Locust Trace model. “That is the future. That is what we need to keep agriculture going in this state and in this country.”