Hinds CC Ag Expo showcases vet tech, drone and cattle programs for high schoolers

RAYMOND — High schoolers watched quietly as Dr. Rhonda Vann pointed to the marbling on a black steer’s ribs, back and rump on an ultrasound screen as the 1,200-pound, yearling bull stood behind her, confined to a chute between two thick sheets of metal.

Dr. Vann, an animal science professor at Mississippi State University and Hinds agricultural advisor, explained the ultrasound technique is used to judge whether the animal’s meat is choice or prime, an indicator of its market value and, eventually, that of its calves.

The test piqued the interest of high school students attending Hinds Community College’s Ag Expo in Raymond on Feb. 26.

Junior Lily Womack, a student at Simpson County’s Magee High School, said she loved the lesson. Womack’s family raises and sells Black and Red Angus steer, but they don’t use the beef carcass ultrasound to evaluate meat quality.

“I loved it. I live on a farm, and it was interesting to hear about and see it. That’s something I would like to do,” said Womack, who wants to be a veterinarian.

Juniors and seniors explored multiple programs with an agricultural bent during a morning visit to the T.H. Kendall III Agricultural Complex at Hinds’ Raymond Campus. The Ag complex offers hands-on training for agriculture careers, including agribusiness management, beef and poultry production and vet tech programs.

Up the hill from the steer testing, Hinds Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Instructor Marcus Truss and Hinds students Marvio Williams, 20, of Horn Lake, and Jabari Stokes, 20, of Black Hawk, were flying drones of various sizes. Students looked up as a DJI Agras T10, designed for spraying pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides on small to medium-sized farms, buzzed in the air above them. The drone also can be used to disperse seeds.

“It can be programmed to fly where you want over crops. Depending on what you spray, you may want it to go faster or slower. When it is out of the liquid it will come back in all by itself to base,” Truss said.

Drones also are used in wildlife management to track, for example, deer populations, and to monitor endangered species from above. The unmanned aircraft, which sound like a hive of angry bees up close, are hard to hear when 200 feet above the ground, Truss said, making them ideal for following skittish animals.

Williams decided to attend Hinds because it is one of only two schools in the state with an unmanned aircraft flight program. He hopes to obtain an FAA certification to fly drones after he graduates in December and plans to join the U.S. Air Force with an eye on becoming an air traffic controller one day. Stokes joined Hinds UAS program while he works to be admitted to Hinds’ pilot program. His goal is to become an airline pilot.

Across campus at the Hinds Veterinary Technology building, high schoolers received a tour of the traditional vet clinic, which treats small and large animals.

Shanna King, a senior at Simpson County’s Mendenhall High School, said she hopes to become a veterinary tech. She loves horses.

“This is the best and it is local. I’ll probably be going to school here. I love it,” King said.