Latino Ag Education

Latino Ag Education

Latino Ag Education. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Fruit Grower Report.

Getting good agricultural training out to the Spanish speaking workers can be a challenge and especially when it comes to the upper level of employees. Vicky Scharlau, executive director of the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers says they are getting a program ready.

SCHARLAU: Today we are meeting with a number of the industry leaders about our Latino Agriculture Education Program because we’ve been working with two instructors from the Wenatchee Valley College on putting together a program that targets employees that speak Spanish and that usually run their own crew.

These employees are usually management or supervisory level. This is the 3rd year for the program that is taught at the Yakima Valley Community College in Grandview.

SCHARLAU: The Latino Ag Education Program for viticulture is a program that starts in November, goes through April and they meet every Friday all day long and it’s really focusing on horticulture specific to grapes – to wine grapes & juice grapes.

Scharlau says they are really attempting to grow the program.

SCHARLAU: We’re trying to put together a second level for this class. We had introduction to viticulture, now we’re really looking at working with our industry members and trying to put together a curriculum that is a sustainable viticulture, working with our Vinewise, our online sustainable guide to viticulture and putting aspects of that into Spanish and then making it applicable in the classroom.

That’s today’s Fruit Grower Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.

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