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Danish Students Tour Texas A&M

Announced: May 31, 2007

More than 40 Danish agriculture students along with 3 instructors from Lundbaek Agriculture School of North Jutland came to Texas A&M University on Tuesday, May 29th. On arrival they received a welcome to the campus by the International Programs Office as they began their 4 day tour of Texas agriculture.

While on campus, they met with university specialists for a variety of briefings and technical visits including beef cattle research, swine production, Texas crops, equestrian training/horse research and animal cloning technology. DVM students were also on hand to provide a tour of the Veterinary School of Medicine.

The group also spent an afternoon at Prairie View A&M where they visited the University Swine Center and the International Goat Research Center.

Campus visits were complemented by visits to several area farms, ranches and agribusinesses.

Dr. Dan James, Professor Emeritus and International Program Coordinator for the Texas Cooperative Extension Service, is acting as the liaison between the Danish student delegation and Texas A&M University.

"This tour of Texas agriculture has been a wonderful opportunity for these young adults to learn about another culture," James said. "We need to increase these opportunities for our future leaders so they may learn how they can work together to feed the world."

Lundbæk Agriculture School, the student’s home college, is the most northern of fifteen agricultural schools in Denmark. It was founded in 1948 to educate "free independent farmers" and is housed in the same buildings where their ancestors for generations had been slaving for the former landlords of the estate, the Juel¬-Ryssensteen barony.

The training offered by Lundbaek is vocational and consists of a two year program of classes with hands-on training at certified farms

The agricultural law in Denmark now serves to preserve family-based farming and maintain soil quality as well as impose regulations ensuring that cultivation of land, ownership, tenancy, the environment and other aspects are all managed in the best possible manner.

Today in Denmark if one aspires to own a farm larger than 30 hectares, the farmer is required to have undergone five years of formal training – including both theory and practice, preparing him/her for responsible management.

Students can also choose to extend their education and acquire a “Green Certificate”. This education and certificate then qualifies him/her to become a farm manager, to be eligible for farm loans or subsidies and also allows him/her to buy a farm of more than 30 hectares.

To complete the requirements, students move on to Agricultural Colleges in Denmark such as the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Copenhagen and perhaps other appropriate locations around the world like Texas A&M University.

Besides a full technical agenda, the students from Denmark were able to visit NASA and Galveston Beach while in Texas. They also had the opportunity to experience Aggieland as their visit allowed them to meet other students, shop in the Memorial Student Center and visit some of the museums located on campus.

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