An Adair resident will soon be part of a select team that is sponsored by the Iowa Corn Growers Association and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board.

DMACC student Titan Immel of Adair, was one of 18 college students named to the Iowa Corn Collegiate Advisory Team on Monday.  The team helps the ICGA develop programs that enhance the organization’s relationship with students who are interested in pursuing careers in the agriculture industry.

Immel says he went through a job-like application process before he was ultimately selected, and he’s excited about the opportunity.

“I get to interact with other students from other colleges and kind of see what they’re learning and what they’re views are on things.  I feel like I bring a whole different perspective to the team because I still farm back home. So students in college might not understand that side of things, where the farmer really wants to cut their input costs and not spend as much money as ultimately possible.  I don’t know… I think it will be a good experience.”

ICGA PR Director Mindy Williamson says the college advisory team was set up to keep the younger generation interested and invested in farming.

“The average age of a farmer today is about 54-57 years old so we said, ‘How are we going to get young people involved in our Corn Growers association?’… because we know that agriculture is a big part of what we do here in Iowa and we also knew that there was a growing number of kids doing agriculture majors in Iowa so we wanted to tap into that to make ourselves more relevant.”

This is now the fourth year of the advisory team’s existence. Immel and the other members of this year’s advisory team will have their first meeting together in mid-November.

To learn more about Immel and the ICGA’s college advisory team, tune in to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County during the 9am, noon and 5 o’clock hours.