Farming’s Future: Council Helps Fuel SDSU Trip to Commodity Classic

The 2024 Commodity Classic lifted off with its theme, “New Frontiers in Agriculture,” which proved to be true when attendees saw a sea of blue in the crowds of the trade show floor, in state caucus meetings and educational sessions.

That sea of blue was a group of 22 South Dakota State University (SDSU) students who traveled 20 hours down to Houston, Texas, in three vans – one of which was temporarily sidelined with a flat tire.

Prior to Classic, it was one student’s vision that was presented to both the Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council (MSR&PC) board and the South Dakota Soybean Checkoff board to help fund the trip.

“I was talking to Luke Gordon in the fall, and he came up with the idea of bringing a group of SDSU students, and I knew it would be a really great opportunity,” said Kade Wassman, SDSU ag business student.

With a near-record class of first-time students (2,275) attending in the 2023-24 academic year, SDSU continues to be one of the top picked universities in the Midwest.

The College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences draws in 15.5% of the student population. The Council, which invests checkoff projects toward promoting emerging farmers, find value in supporting SDSU’s efforts.

“This program could have a lot of legs,” Council Chair Tom Frisch said.

In 2021, MSR&PC supported SDSU’s Raven Precision Ag Building with checkoff resources, which helped fund the study wing of the facility.

“We have been in the Raven facility for three years, and it’s been amazing,” Uilk said. “We have had the ability to teach new technology, hands on labs and modern equipment in the classroom. It’s really increased the ability to interact with industry and get students exposed to different career paths.”

In 2016, SDSU became the nation’s first land-grant university to offer both a bachelor’s degree and minor in precision agriculture. SDSU introduced a minor in precision agriculture in 2015.

Slunecka has enjoyed seeing SDSU prosper and build its agriculture department and as a result loved seeing the students down at Commodity Classic.