Sustainable Agriculture

Curriculum / Coursework

Andrew College developed the A.S. in Sustainable Agriculture program as a way for students to learn how to create and manage environmentally friendly and socially responsible agricultural systems. To achieve these goals, we offer the following discipline requirements (18 credits):

SAG 100: Intro to Sustainable Agriculture

SAG 105: Natural Resource Conservation

SAG 200: Plant Science and Crop Production

SAG 205: Animal Science

SAG 237: Sustainable Farm Management

SAG 250: Supervised Internship

In addition to the discipline requirements, the students will complete another 42 credits of coursework in such areas as humanities, science, and social science, totaling 60 credit hours.

Internships are usually done during the summer between freshman and sophomore years. Students are paired with local as well as regional farms that are leaders in regenerative and holistic agriculture and who can offer employment opportunities.

Community Garden

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The Sustainable Agriculture program started a community garden in August 2018 to provide educational opportunities for students and to help alleviate food insecurity in the area. College faculty, students, and local community members manage the garden. Methods of distributing the garden’s produce include giving to those in need, volunteers, selling at the Cuthbert Farmers’ Market, and donating produce to the college’s cafeteria. The garden contains two compost bins that provide organic mulch for the garden and are managed organically which requires the production of only those species that are well suited to the local climate. Andrew College students with the help of faculty start seeds, transplant seedlings, weed, irrigate, mulch, and play an active role in the expansion and maintenance of the garden.

Internships

All students in the Sustainable Agriculture program will complete a summer internship with a local or regional farm that practices regenerative farming. Featured below are some of the farms where students can expect to do their internship.

White Oak Pastures

White Oak Pastures– is a six-generation, 152-year-old family farm in Bluffton, Georgia. The farm focuses on regenerative land management, humane animal husbandry, and community revitalization.  Their Farm Internship/Apprenticeship Program is among the most comprehensive in the country due to its scale, diversity, and vertical integration. Since the start of the program in 2016, one-third of all interns are offered a permanent, full-time position. One-quarter of them hold supervisory or management positions.

TurnTime Farm

TurnTime Farm is a pasture-centered farm that stewards land and animals in a way that brings healing to the soil, while producing clean food for Columbus, Georgia and the surrounding areas. Turntime practices mob-grazing, meaning their cows change fields every day and their chickens every five days. By using these regenerative practices, Turntime raises its animals completely antibiotic- and hormone-free, with grass as their main source of nutrients.

Koinonia Farm

Koinonia Farm, founded in 1942, is both a working farm and a place of hospitality. It is an Intentional Christian community with a rich history—from the Jordans and the Englands founding the farm, to the bullets, bombs, and boycotts of the mid-century, to launching the Partnership Housing Movement that became Habitat for Humanity. The farm produces vegetables, blueberries, and grapes in addition to cattle, chickens, and pigs. Koinonia is in the midst of a major experiment that will help the farm transition to chemical-free pecan production. Interns will not only grow vegetables and raise livestock but also learn how to process pecans, bake, and cook.

 

Faculty

Dr. Adam Redhead
Assistant Professor of Sustainable Agriculture
Program Director of Sustainable Agriculture
229-732-5907
adamredhead@andrewcollege.edu