In-depth Occasionally, we lack space in the newspaper to run stories their full length. We have reserved this spot to display longer versions of those articles. Ag programs remain popular in Iowa Schools By Gene Lucht Iowa Farmer Today Despite a drop in the number of farmers, agricultural education continues to thrive in Iowa. Statistics from the Iowa Department of Education show, as of last year, there were still 234 high school ag education programs with nearly 15,000 students. Also, more than 1,800 students are enrolled in the 15 community college programs in Iowa.
Leaders say there is a shortage of high school ag teachers.
Some programs are using retired teachers as temporary substitutes. Probably the biggest problem is a teacher shortage, says Dale Gruis, who took over as state FFA advisor and ag education consultant this summer. We have a couple of programs that don t have teachers this year. Gruis quickly adds those programs have found temporary solutions to their problems for this year. But they have changed.