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UW-RF Seeks Ag Partners for Student Projects

By Jenny Bjelland
UW-RF News Bureau

FEB. 11, 2005--The University of Wisconsin-River Falls invites agribusinesses, farms, and other organizations to collaborate with students in the course, Experiential Learning in Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science.

In the course taught by agricultural engineering technology Professor Robert Butler, teams of up to five seniors from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences will strive to complete a project or solve a problem to benefit an enterprise company. The team of students can provide a business with reports, feasibility studies, design analyses, financial analyses, business plans, presentations, videos, or demonstrations.

Since the course was first offered in 2003, students have worked on a variety of problems. Topics ranged from researching the feasibility of the UW-RF lab farmland swap, researching and recommending improved grain handling techniques to the UW-RF lab farm, and researching methods to improve ventilation in an equine facility.

Recently, a team also worked with Cenex Lubricants in an effort to investigate the use of soybean oil as a dust suppressant in an equine riding arena. The students compared and evaluated the effectiveness of several different dust suppressant methods and then presented the results to Jim Rauls, a representative from Cenex Lubricants.

Rauls, the energy sales manager for Cenex Lubricants, recommends the program to other businesses. "It is a good experience for both students and for the business community to get new ideas for the future," he says.

Currently the program is seeking new businesses with applicable projects for students. For more information on participating in the Experiential Learning in Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science course, please contact Robert Butler at 715/425-3985 or by email at robert.butler@uwrf.edu.

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