By Steve Horton

While auto manufacturing remains the state’s leading economic engine, agriculture is a stable and steady second in producing wealth for Michigan. The industry ranges in scope from the farmer planting his crops or raising livestock to the implement dealer to bio-diesel products to the food in the grocery store. Part of the reason agriculture packs an economic wallop is that the industry is varied—including everything from dairy products to tart cherries to asparagus to bedding plants. In fact, the state trails only California in the diversity of its commodities.

Agriculture begins with dirt, moisture, sunlight, and a seed and from that all else grows and prospers. But another key element is knowledge, the ability of people to apply their know how to growing, processing, and adding value to all of nature’s products. Michigan State University, through its educational facilities and research efforts, has played a key role in disseminating and enhancing this knowledge.

Randy Showerman, a Fowlerville resident and 1977 high school graduate, has played a part in MSU’s educational mission, serving as the state supervisor for agriculture, food and natural resources education for over 100 high school programs and as the FFA advisor. He’s also been an associate professor in the Dept. of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies.

Showerman’s role has been expanded with his recent promotion as the director of the Institute of Agricultural Technology (IAT) in the university’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. In this newly revised role, he will “oversee and coordinate the operations of the instructional programs of IAT, including on-campus certificate and special programs as well an off-campus credit and noncredit programs.” In addition, he will provide guidance on recommendations for admissions and work with departments, deans and directors on implementing program change and will lead the Academic Orientation Programs for IAT students.”

“I’ll be continuing my work with the high school agriculture and natural resources programs and as an advisor to the FFA chapters,” said Showerman, “but for the time being I’ll no longer be teaching college classes.”

In an interview shortly after the announcement of his new position, Showerman talked about how IAT operates and his goals for the program. “The IAT offers two-year certificate programs,” he explained. “They used to be called short courses. Right now we offer 10 of them on campus and 12 off campus. A popular one is dairy management. Others involve such sectors as equine science, landscaping and horticulture, and food science. Students take several core classes, but the remainder of their curriculum is focused on their specialty. A comparison to these two-year certificate programs is an associate degree a student would earn in a community college in a specialized area like nursing or criminal justice. There is the general education component that all students receive, but otherwise it’s a hands-on, applied learning program. One of the unique aspects is that all students have to complete a six-month internship with on-the-job training. We have created working relationships with different businesses. The ag tech program has an excellent partnership with the private sector industry.”

Along with these two-year courses, the IAT also offers specialized training courses that last for only a few weeks.  “These are classes that familiarizes or introduces a student to a specific skill,” Showerman said. “For example, the IAT has offered classes in Southwest Michigan, geared towards the fruit industries located there. We also have had a specialized short course offered to veterans to help them find careers in the agricultural industry.”

The classes include the traditional classroom setting with students and instructor, but also encompass a mix and match of two-way interactive classes via TV cameras and instruction done though the use of the internet.

Since production agriculture and the processing of products are always evolving and since new offshoots are always emerging, Showerman said that an initial goal will be to review the current 22 programs and then look at adding new ones. “I want to make sure we’re addressing the needs of the industry with the skills we’re teaching,” he said. “I want to see if they’re viable and that the course work has quality content. After that we’ll look at recommending other offerings. Recently, we’ve seen emphasis put on urban farming and bio-diesels. Also, food science is constantly changing.

“A misconception many people have is that there are not that many careers available in the agricultural industry,” he pointed out. “But right now we have jobs available, but not enough people possessing the necessary skills to fill them. The IAT aims at providing students with those specific skills. It’s really just part of the land-grant outreach that’s existed as part of the university’s mission since the start. We want to address the needs of the local community and of the agricultural industry with the curriculum we offer, both the four-year degree programs offered by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and with the two-year certificate programs and specialized short courses offered by the IAT.”

The new position goes hand-in-glove with the work Showerman has been doing for several years as the state supervisor for the high school agriculture, food and natural resources curriculum and FFA program. “Michigan is one of the few states where numbers have been growing both in the number of schools offering this option and the number of students taking part,” he said. “Right now 110 of the 524 public school districts in the state offer some form of this program. It can range from general agricultural courses to a specifically designed curriculum.

“I’m currently working with 12 different schools,” he added. “Three of them are urban districts. One wants to offer animal health and veterinary science, another is looking at food science and security based program, and another wants to offer a bio-tech program. The broader-based programs offer zoology, which is animals in general, along with such classes as ecology and business management and technology.”

A difficulty facing Showeman and the districts is getting the courses to fit into the Michigan Merit Curriculum that the state Legislature set up a couple of years ago. Students now have a required number of classes that need to be taken in science, math, foreign language, performing arts, social studies, and English. These prerequisites allow little room for electives which is what the traditional vocational agricultural classes have been in previous years.

“We’re working to have the course work in the classes designed to qualify for these requirements,” Showerman noted. “Some of the classes will quality as a science and a fourth-year math credit. Some will meet the criteria for the performing and visual arts requirement. With all of the budget cuts that have been taking place in the past couple of years for K-12 education, it’s keep the program offerings. Our goal is the see where these classes can fit in the Michigan Merit Curriculum.”

Showerman said that districts wish to either keep an existing program or start a new one because they see the value of “a practical approach to math, science, and business classes,” that these classes provide. “Research shows that if you use a hands-on approach, students learn more than they do just using textbooks and tests,” he said. “Theoretical instruction in subjects like algebra and physics is important, but so are courses that allow students to apply and implement what they’re learning to real-life situations.”

Another feature that draws interest from school districts is the extracurricular FFA program. “They like the foundation and leadership components that involvement in FFA activities provides young people,” he noted.

Showerman, by leading both the high school program and the IAT, hopes that the overlap “will help enhance both programs,” noting that the skills being taught for the two-year college level courses can inform what’s offered in the various high school classes. “We have to show a tangible result in improved job skills,” he said, “and that can be better accomplished by having a continuum from high school to college and in partnering with Michigan agri-businesses. We want to inform high school counselors and administrators about the various careers available in this sector and what skills are needed to perform them.”

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Grew up on farm south of Fowlerville

Randy, who was born in 1958, grew up on the family farm south of Fowlerville. His parents, Melvin and Doris, are both deceased now. “My twin sister, Doris (Goodwin), and I were the oldest. My brother Joe now lives on the farm, and my brother Jerry lives in Wyoming,” he said. “We raised beef and swine and grew corn, soybeans, hay, and some wheat.”

Showerman’s ambitions after graduating from high school in 1977 involved returning to the farm. “I enrolled in the Institute of Agricultural Technology with a focus on animal production,” he said. “But the farm economy bottomed out about that time, so I switched to animal science and a four-year program and also completed my teaching degree.” His goal then was to become an agriculture science teacher and FFA advisor.

After earning his bachelor’s degree, he and Pat Zimmerman were married in June of 1982. “We had gone together since high school,” he said.

Randy also secured a teaching position at Breckenridge Community Schools and remained there for six years. During that time he completed his Master’s in extension education while Pat was busy earning her medical degree.

“We moved back to Fowlerville in 1988,” he noted. “Pat had an opportunity to join a practice in Brighton, while I was being recruited by Michigan State as an instructor.”

During the intervening years Showerman earned a doctoral degree in agriculture and extension education at MSU in 1994. The couple also raised three children: Emily, who is currently a third-year medical student at MSU; Abigail, who is graduating this May from MSU with a degree in special education; and Thomas, who is a freshman at the campus and is looking at focusing on human biology.

Randy was a longtime leader in first the Cub Scouts and then the Boy Scouts. He was also involved in the football program. The family belongs to the Grace Lutheran Church in Howell.