Thirty-eight college aged students from 15 countries will arrive in Crookston on Sunday, July 25, to participate in a week long "Agriculture in the Red River Valley" program hosted by the University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC).

MAST (Minnesota Agricultural Student Trainee) International is an agricultural/horticultural exchange program arranging 4-8 month practical training and a term of academic experience for 250 students from 30-40 different countries around the world each year.

Students coming to UMC are from Sweden, Haiti, Ukraine, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Brazil, Finland, Lithuania, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany and South Africa.

"These students have been working on farms or businesses in the United States since March. This is their wrap-up experience," said David Hoff, assistant professor of Agricultural Business at UMC, and coordinator of the Agriculture in the Red River Valley program.

The "Agriculture in the Red River Valley" experience will give MAST students a first-hand look at agriculture and agri-business in the region. It will combine practical, experiential learning with site visits and academic instruction.

Topics include: an overview of agricultural industry, both historical and current; field crops; animal (beef and dairy) agriculture; and value-added agricultural processing. Field trips to farms, food processing plants and applied research facilities will complement and reinforce classroom/lab based learning. The academic experience will focus on the changing strategies for agricultural profitability, particularly with respect to crop diversification, value-added processing, and international trade.

Tours will take the students to a cranberry farm , a wild rice farm, Excel Dairy, Habstritt Seed Farm, and a Barbecue at the farm home of Bob Bergland, former secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and current regent of the University of Minnesota. Their on-campus experience will include: "Geology and Geography of the Red River Valley"; "The Changing Role of the American Farmer: Producer versus Supplier"; "Crisis in American Farming"; "Perspective on International Agriculture in the Red River Valley"; and a tour of selected research projects at the Northwest Experiment Station. The group will also tour North Dakota State University, USDA Potato Research Lab, Energy Research Lab, USDA Human Nutrition Lab, and a value added food processing cooperative.

MAST students will participate in technology workshops, and use electronic information and communication technology to interact with experts and each other on topics of interest. MAST students will be issued laptop computers, and will have full access to UMC’s Local Area Network and the Internet.