Rend Lake College News

RLC leading the next generation of farmers

Written by Megan McKinley | Oct 30, 2023 5:00:00 AM

INA, Ill (Oct. 27, 2023)—The world needs farmers…and no one understands that better than Rend Lake College President Terry Wilkerson, who has successfully led positive change through the advances made to the Agronomy Innovation Center.

Wilkerson recognized the potential in the building that was previously the Coal Mining Training Center and made the necessary changes to make it the Agronomy Innovation Center, to improve the future of agriculture in Southern Illinois. RLC has partnered with Syngenta and John Deere to provide state-of-the-art equipment and apprenticeship opportunities to students.

Wilkerson made the decision to return to the classroom in the Fall 2023 semester to teach Soil Science at the AIC. The knowledge that he has passed down to his students will help better prepare a future generation of farmers to lead the industry.

The students were excited to have Wilkerson as a professor. Allie McKinney (Wayne City) said that she chose Rend Lake College because of its affordability, quality education, and it being close to home. She said she wanted to take Wilkerson’s class because her father was a former student of his. She said she has already learned a lot of valuable information that will help better prepare her for her future in Agriculture Business.

Anyone who steps into Wilkerson’s classroom can see the care he has for his students, and the students expressed how much they enjoyed having him as a teacher. Everyone in the class agreed that they would want to have Wilkerson as a teacher again.

The world needs farmers and that is why RLC is leading the way with our Agronomy Innovation Center.

The future of agronomy is here…

To learn more about the Ag Program here at RLC, visit: https://info.rlc.edu/aic