MSU Students in Puerto Rico:
A Beautiful Way to Learn

By Carol Flaherty

03/08/01 BOZEMAN, Mont. - It is difficult to tell which was more important: experiencing the uniqueness of Puerto Rico or finding out how much its people have in common with us, say Montana State University students.

            Twelve MSU students who took an agricultural education course on limited resource farming capped the class with a visit to Puerto Rico in January. Their conclusion? Whether people farm plantains, oranges and coffee or Montana's wheat, chickpeas and cherries, people are the same.

            "What sticks in my mind about the trip is the 84 year old woman with the 10 sons who were welders, and the fact that the entire family . . . were just like us, they behaved just like us. They had the family unity, the humor and the closeness," said Vina Smith, an environmental educator at Fort Peck Community College and a member of a MSU agricultural education class.

            The 12 students and three MSU instructors visited Puerto Rico in January after a semester of studying issues related to the area. The point of this interdisciplinary course was to study the complex problems of agricultural development, including the interaction of available resources, existing technology and climate, as well as the role culture plays in the choices made by producers.

            "The Puerto Ricans are doing some very innovative things to bolster their agriculture industry," says Dave Baumbauer, a student from Bozeman and on the staff at MSU. "The 'state' government has set aside certain areas as agricultural lands, and developed cost share programs for technologies that improve production and/or protect resources . . . and for farm labor that reimburses up to half the wages for hourly help."

            While in Puerto Rico, local Extension Service and USDA personnel organized a series of meetings between the students and producers on six farms, said Marty Frick of MSU's agricultural education unit. Frick coauthored a grant with Vince Smith, an MSU agricultural economist, and Pete Burfening, head of MSU's Animal and Range Science Department. The USDA funded this class and two others at MSU designed to provide international experiences to students in the College of Agriculture. Bok Sowell, an MSU range science instructor, also helped with the class.

MSU agricultural students Becky Kossler, Christie Flechsenhar and Ben Meyer, with MSU Range Instructor Bok Sowell (in front of Ben), listening to explanations of plantain growing in Puerto Rico.

            Students visited with plantain, coffee, citrus, and freshwater shrimp farmers. They also conducted two in-depth farm evaluations in what Frick described as a "participatory rural appraisal" process, which is a way to identify rural agricultural problems and possible solutions.

            "We determined how much area was in each type of crop and what were the major limitations to production. We looked at soils, natural resource conservation practices, labor and attempted to understand why farmers made certain decisions," said Sowell.

            "It was completely different crops and completely different options than we have at home," said Jake Han, a Montana State University agricultural student from Rudyard. "They're limited on different aspects of their agriculture than we are. Their transportation down here is fairly cheap. Everything is real short distances in moving their crops. They're limited by capital, by too much rainfall in areas." (If you can play MP3 files on your computer, listen to one of Jake in Puerto Rico, with a frog chirping in the background.)

            In a setting like Puerto Rico, pleasure and class productivity were not always separate. After all, eating fresh coconut and fresh ripe pineapple is just a personal sampling of local agricultural products.

            Jim Hafer, an agricultural teacher at Dull Knife Memorial College and another member of the MSU class, said he enjoyed it all, especially the pineapple.

            The students also were able to sample the beaches and local music -- all of which left them in awe of the pleasant climate and people.

            "I was blown away by the scenery, the culture, getting eaten by waves. It's awesome," said Jason Jimmerson, an MSU student from Conrad. (If you can play MP3 files on your computer, listen to an MP3 file of Jason in Puerto Rico, with waves crashing in the background.)

            Other students in the class and on the trip included Casey Osksa, a high school agriculture teacher from Plentywood; Dale Labrum, a computer programmer from Poplar; Ben Meyer of Stevensville; Brad Weaver of Big Sandy; Becky Kossler of Clyde Park; Christie Flechsenhar of Cascade and Eric Tillman of Chinook.

            "It's amazing how many common problems there are, how many things draw us together, especially in agriculture" said Sowell.

            And the salsa music probably won't hurt class evaluations, either.

Group photo caption: MSU students and teachers in Puerto Rico in January 2001. From left back: Ramon Gonzalez of the NRCS-USDA in San Sebastian Office, Marty Frick of MSU, Jorge Ruiz NRCS, MSU student Jake Han, Carlos Morganti of NRCS; Edwin Toledo, agronomist for Puerto Rico's Rural Development Corp.; Rigoberto Torres-Gonzalez, Miriam Gonzalez, MSU student Jason Jimmerson, MSU student Ben Meyer (almost hidden); MSU student Becky Kossler (in front of Jason); MSU student Christie Flechsenhar. At bottom front: Eric Tillman, MSU student, Brad Weaver, MSU student, David Baumbauer, MSU student and Plant Growth Center manager, Casey Osksa, MSU student and high school teacher, Bok Sowell, MSU range instructor. 

Send questions or comments to Marty Frick, Bok Sowell and Carol Flaherty, MSU Communications Services, Bozeman, MT 59717.

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