Connoisseurs of the Land Lending a Hand.

When one comes to college, only so much education, albeit substantial, may take place within the classroom. Within the scope of agriculture, the Field and Furrow Club at the University of Illinois seeks to broaden the horizon and open up minds for students. To pique the interest of the ones who will inevitably take the reins for the future of agriculture is its primary goal. Field and Furrow features a myriad of social activities, speakers, and contests woven into a laid-back atmosphere to educate and enlighten its members. However, perhaps the club’s most important and powerful method of education is showing its members how agriculture can benefit the people around them by several community service opportunities.
            The club reaches out to the student body via their booth at several community and college events during the year to volunteer information about the club and invite anyone interested to join. The club, since 2006, has adopted a pathway along the Morrow Plots that it cleans twice a year. The club sells chrysanthemums, gourds, and pumpkins to the public each fall as a club fundraiser, as well as preparation of seed sets to sell to high schools for crop judging practice, a lunch for FFA chapters during the state FFA Record Book Judging Contest. The club donates to charity at Christmas to purchase gifts for needy children and also sponsored one of its members to run a marathon to help in the fight against cancer.
            Reaching out to the public is not something that Field and Furrow takes lightly, but rather embraces it to maximize its constructive impact on the community. All of the above outreach activities are part of the educational process that one may expect to receive from the Field and Furrow club at the University of Illinois.