Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) announced on Monday that its Agriculture Department is creating a hemp agriculture program, making it the first community college in California to develop a certificate and degree program focused on hemp.
SRJC aims to launch the program in Fall of 2020.
In the Spring of 2020, students can begin taking hemp-focused courses along with the existing SRJC sustainable agriculture and horticulture programs to get a head start on the new program.
According to SRJC, the Hemp Agriculture program will include Introduction to Plant Science, Soil and Plant Nutrition, Integrated Pest Management, Organic Crop Planning and Production, and several other courses.
SRJC Dean of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Culinary Arts, Benjamin Goldstein says that the versatile hemp plant is at the center of a multi-billion dollar industry and that one of the college’s top priorities is ensuring that its career education programs align with current industry trends.
“We are preparing our students with the knowledge and skills to be competitive in the workplace,” says Goldstein.
“I’m thrilled to study hemp agriculture at SRJC,” says SRJC student Norma Gomez. “there is no other community college doing this, and it’s so relevant in California. There are thousands of jobs available for students with knowledge of hemp agriculture. My instructors are awesome, passionate, and knowledgeable. Plus, we can get real hands-on experience growing hemp at Shone Farm.”
SRJC Shone Farm is growing a 0.8-acre test plot of hemp which is registered with the Sonoma County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office and operated in compliance with federal, state, and county regulatory requirements.
