City buys seeds for Land Lab

WASHINGTON — Washington city officials have agreed to pay for seeds used by Land Lab, a program through Washington’s FFA chapter that gives students firsthand experience running a farm field, from seed acquisition to planting to harvesting and marketing their product.

The program operates on unused, but up-for-sale land in Washington’s business park. At a city council meeting March 5, FFA Chapter Vice President Jade Sheetz said that setup added uncertainty to the students’ plans, since their farmland could theoretically be sold out from under them in the middle of a growing season.

She argued that the city’s agreement to spend its own $2,567.50 on the seeds would help keep the program viable. Traditionally, students have paid for all of Land Lab’s input costs themselves.

“I’ve been on the Land Lab for several years now, since we started farming that patch of land, and over time it’s continued to shrink,” she said. “In years past, we’ve lost parts of land, which means we’ve been losing money we could be making off that land.”

The group plans to use the area for hay this year, rather than corn or soybeans. Chapter Sentinel Blake Sheetz said the property’s uncertain future and industrial location made the commodity more ideal.

Others added that hay baling was a valuable skill for FFA members to learn, and said the municipal investment helped them raise money for the chapter as it opens up Land Lab to all of its members.

“It’s a lot easier than us trying to grow a normal crop … with the fact that we’d have to spray, and it’s going to become a lot harder to spray around the lots, since everyone else that’s building out there is trying to seed grass, and we don’t want to kill that off,” Blake Sheetz said. “We also think it’s a pretty decent idea to just seed it down and have seeding established there.”

Students said their request wasn’t unconditional. Land Lab members will spend their time taking care of the real estate, saving the city on mowing and other maintenance costs.

“This’ll help that ground and prevent soil erosion, and in the lots that are available for sale now, it’ll establish seeding in those lots,” said FFA Chapter Reporter Presley Hora. “It’ll also create a better viewing for possible buyers, it’ll help them to kind of easily see that, rather than if you’d put corn there.”

City council members voted unanimously to approve the seed purchase. City Finance Director Kelsey Brown said the money would come from Washington’s industrial development fund.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com