The University of Virginia has the best college farm in the country. That’s according to College Ranker, as the website has ranked the top 40 college farms in America.
Hundreds of colleges are using their farms for educational experiences for their current students, creating community-based learning opportunities, providing food for use on campus and even local farmers markets.
The full ranking can be viewed here: http://www.collegeranker.com/ranking/best-college-farms/
These 40 college farms were selected after compiling scores and ranking college farms based on the following criteria:
* Hands-on experiences
* Student involvement
* Community outreach programs
* Workshops, classes, and lectures
* Volunteering opportunities
* Degree plan options
The University of Virginia tops the list, seemingly on the strength of its forest program:
Blandy Experimental Farm has a 172 acre Arboretum which is home to 5000 living trees. There are over 200 types of conifers, 162 kinds of boxwood, cedar of Lebanon alee, an herb garden and the Virginia Native Plant Trail. Public programs are offered to encourage life long learning. Programs include lectures, tours, children’s camps which teach about environmental issues, natural history, gardening and much more. Educational programs are available for K-12 students in the form of hands on exploration and research driven field investigations. Currently, the University is studying pollination, plant-animal interactions, defoliation cause by the destructive gypsy moth and what happens when plants are in-bred.
Highmoor Farm is a 278 acre agricultural and forest experiment station which provides research based information for the apple industry. The farm is also the site of vegetable and small fruit variety trails. Current trials include tomatoes, pumpkins, green peppers, onions, sweet corn and strawberries. Farm researchers are looking for a way to improve the transplant quality of muskmelons and to create new ways to manage corn ear worm on sweet corn as well as powdery mildew on pumpkins.
The next nine college farms are as follows:
2. University of Maine
3. Goshen College
4. Green Mountain College
5. University of Vermont
6. Warren Wilson College
7. Cornell University
8. Ferrum College
9. College of the Ozarks
10. Deep Springs College
Elizabeth Chapman, the article’s author, had this to say regarding the ranking: “We are excited to highlight these 40 farms. They are providing great resources to their students as well as the community. These schools are impacting the future of our country as they work to research and develop innovative ways to grow and provide for families around the globe.”
You can see the entire top 40 here.