Agricultural Discovery Centre receives $10,384 donation from Nutrien Ag

By Samantha Johnson

Commentator/Courier

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In late April, Nutrien Ag presented a cheque for $10,384 to the Agricultural Discovery Centre at Irvine School.

“Prairie Rose Schools shares our passion for agriculture and the importance of increasing the availability of nutritional food through innovation, education and the advancement of sustainable agriculture,” reads a release from Nutrien Ag. “We are delighted to invest in future agriculture farming professionals and the ag industry while helping to grow the understanding of agriculture in the lives of our local students.”

The money enabled the ADC to complete payment on a TRAD worm composter trailer.

“This brings in an aspect of technology and a business aspect as they get to create compost they then sell,” said Irvine School principal Trent Rayner. “There is marketing, business, technology.”

Boyd Craven, assistant superintendent of learning services for PRPS, commented on how the academies and programs within PRPS keep growing and changing, and morph into something unexpected.

“Hands on learning is such an important part of school. We are lucky we have all these great partnerships and we hope they will continue to promote growth,” said Craven.

The students will also be learning about how to reduce their carbon footprint, explained Nichole Neubauer, founder of the ADC. The worm composting system will be a school-wide initiative, assisting the students in learning about nutrients, soil and what plants need to thrive.

“We are very grateful for the money we are being given and super excited to get our vermicomposter out,” said Georgia Howe, 2023-24 president of the ADC student executive. “We want to thank the FMC and Nutrien Ag.”

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