A group of students from the Polk County High School Agriculture Program recently toured the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Center near Fletcher. The students are currently enrolled in horticulture classes taught by Chauncey Barber.
As part of the tour, students were able to observe the work being done in the vegetable and ornamental programs at the research farm. Students visited the tissue culture lab where scientists are developing new plants for both the nursery and biofuels industries. Tours of both the tomato and ornamental greenhouses gave students an opportunity to see some of the most recent work in the world of plant breeding.
“One of the goals of our Ag program at Polk County High School is to show students the current methods of farming as well as those new crops and methods to be used in the future,” Barber said. “The kids always come away from this trip learning something that we could not gain from the classroom.”
