Medina awarded $25K grant for ag education
MEDINA – A $25,000 grant from Monsanto will help Medina’s ag education program add livestock, a compost research center, community gardens and a technology system where the animals can be viewed with monitors 24 hours a day.
Todd Eick, Medina’s ag teacher and FFA advisor, would like to have the new programs in place by May, when Medina hosts the state FFA Convention.
He plans to turn former grain bins behind Pizza Hut into a livestock area with goats, sheep and llamas. Eick’s students in veterinary science and small animal care classes will work with the animals. The video system would allow students to communicate with vets off site.
Manure from the animals will be part of a compost product that will be used to enrich soil for community gardens by the school buildings.
Medina is the second local district to be awarded one of the $25,000 Monsanto grants. Albion received a grant last year and used the money to develop a 5-acre land lab, acquiring soil testing equipment, laptops and corn seed.
The Monsanto grant applications need endorsements from local farmers.
