State Fair Community College (SFCC) Agriculture program coordinator Brad Driskill has been named Agriculture Director and will oversee the the college farm in addition to his responsibilities for all agriculture education programming.

SFCC purchased 200 acres of farmland adjacent to the college on West 16th Street and closed on the property in the fall of 2022.

The goal of the college farm is to expand SFCC’s Agriculture program and operate a farm that exhibits diverse agricultural production techniques in support of the local agriculture community. The farm will include livestock and row crops.

The livestock will feature a cow/calf herd and later incorporate small ruminants such as sheep and goats. Other livestock may be added later to support classroom activities and demonstration events.

Crops will include a variety of forages on the pasture ground such as cool and warm season grasses and legumes. The row crop operation will go beyond traditional crops and will incorporate modern precision agriculture practices.

Driskill grew up on a beef cattle operation near Cross Timbers. He earned an Associate of Arts degree at SFCC, Bachelor of Science degree in General Agriculture from Missouri State University and Master of Science in Technology degree from the University of Central Missouri.

Driskill began teaching agronomy classes part time at SFCC while working in the fescue seed industry. In 2011, he became the Agriculture program coordinator at the college and was named SFCC’s 2018 Instructor of the Year. He was named Post-Secondary Teacher of the Year by the Missouri Association for Career and Technical Education in 2019 and was awarded an Honorary State FFA degree by the Missouri FFA Association in 2021.

Photo courtesy of State Fair Community College.