From the University of Mount Olive

MOUNT OLIVE — The University of Mount Olive recently hosted its sixth-annual AgFest event to promote and celebrate awareness of agriculture and other academic opportunities at UMO. The event was attended by more than 1,600 visitors from 63 schools from across North Carolina and two schools in South Carolina.

This year’s event offered a new fair-like format and expanded activities. Representatives from agricultural companies and organizations from across the region and state interactively engaged with students to spark their interests in careers, Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE), and even some Career Development Events (CDE) topics.

Attendees participated in hands-on learning experiences in production agriculture, animal science, horticulture, landscaping, wildlife, forestry and natural resources, provided by some of the largest agribusinesses in the region. Experiences included virtual reality, precision agriculture technology and equipment, livestock showing demonstrations, and other exciting booths. For those students with interests outside the field of agriculture, there were demonstrations and booths highlighting education, biology, math, physics, and more. Numerous food booths were on site featuring Got to Be NC Products, and there was music, fun, sunshine, and games for all. The event ended with a concert featuring up and coming Nashville recording artist Matt Stell with special guest Canaan Cox.

“This event creates a unique opportunity for FFA members from across the state to experience UMO, our faculty, students, and beautiful campus,” said Dr. Sandy Maddox, dean of the School of Agriculture and Biological Sciences “We had great weather, the new fair-like format was a tremendous success, and the feedback we have received from the attending advisors and students has been overwhelmingly positive. We are thankful to all those people and groups that work so hard to make this event a reality. I am especially thankful to our wonderful partners including Food Farm — Home of the Original Piggly Wiggly and Got to be NC, for providing food from some of the finest North Carolina-based companies around.”

The University of Mount Olive is a private institution rooted in the liberal arts tradition with defining Christian values. The University, sponsored by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists, has education service centers in Mount Olive, New Bern, Wilmington, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Research Triangle Park, Washington, Jacksonville, and online. For more information, visit www.umo.edu.