Source: PRESS RELEASE, 4/4/22

The University of Mount Olive recently hosted its 7th Annual AgFest event to promote and celebrate awareness of agriculture and other academic opportunities at UMO.   The event was attended by more than 1,600 FFA students and 200 advisors from 74 schools across North Carolina.

“The purpose of the event is to introduce FFA members and advisors to what the University of Mount Olive has to offer academically and to what the agriculture industry has to offer in regards to career opportunities,” said Dr. Sandy Maddox, Dean of the School of Agriculture and Biological Sciences.

The fair-like format offered attendees 60 educational booths along with a variety of fun activities including a mechanical bull, lagoon doom, caricaturist, chicken slinging bingo, and more.  Representatives from agricultural companies and organizations from across the region and state interactively engaged with students to spark their interests in careers, Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE), and even some Career Development Events (CDE) topics.

Attendees participated in hands-on learning experiences in production agriculture, animal science, horticulture, landscaping, wildlife, forestry and natural resources, provided by some of the largest agribusinesses in the region.  Experiences included virtual reality, precision agriculture technology and equipment, livestock showing demonstrations, and other exciting booths. For those students with interests outside the field of agriculture, there were demonstrations and booths highlighting education, biology, math, physics, and more.  Numerous food booths were on site featuring Got to Be NC Products.

Although the threat of heavy winds and rain cut the day short, attendees still enjoyed musical performances by Carolina Sound, and the UMO Men’s and Women’s Choirs.  A concert featuring Paige king Johnson and “Girl Named Tom,” the 2021 winner of NBC’s The Voice was the grand finale of the event.

“We are thankful to all those people and groups that work so hard to make this event a reality,” said Maddox.  “I am especially thankful to our wonderful partners including Food Farm – Home of the Original Piggly Wiggly and Got to be NC, for providing food from some of the finest NC – based companies around, and to our gold sponsors Smithfield Foods and the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission for all that they did to make the event a success.”

The University of Mount Olive is a private institution rooted in the liberal arts tradition with defining Christian values. The University is sponsored by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists. For more information, visit www.umo.edu.