Andrew Leggett, precision agriculture instructor for Blue Mountain Community College, shows where his drone is flying on his pilot control Feb. 23, 2024, at the Farm City Ag & Home Expo at Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center in Hermiston.

HERMISTON — People young and old attended day one of the second annual Farm City Ag & Home Expo in Hermiston.

The event, which started Friday and continues on Saturday, Feb. 23 and 24, focuses on practical knowledge and skills for young people interested in pursuing agriculture, professionals who want to further their education or make connections, and even parents or families who want to build their home improvement skills.

It is being held at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center, 1701 E. Airport Road, and opens at 9 a.m. both days, ending at 3 p.m on Saturday.

The first day focused on youth and agriculture, with a particular emphasis on education. The morning included a drone demonstration and seminar, a discussion about animal nutrition and showmanship, and a presentation about monetary support for people with agricultural backgrounds.

Drone classes taking off

Blue Mountain Community College’s Andrew Leggett, a precision agriculture instructor, flew a WingtraOne GEN II drone as part of his talk on the drone programs at BMCC and what value drones can add for farmers. He also talked about how drones are used in many different sectors, including agriculture, search and rescue, police, research, construction and more.

The community college offers two lengths of drone coursework. There is a two-part, 20-week total program that covers everything students need to know to earn certifications and a two-year program that prepares students for professional work in the field of unmanned aircraft systems, including how to collect and analyze the data.

Drones are expensive. The Gen II drone in the demonstration costs $50,000 between the sensor and drone itself, but it has a fixed wing body that allows it to use less battery when flying. In agriculture, Leggett said, a lot of drones can be used to map vegetation types and identify where there are weeds that need to be sprayed, even down to the exact location.

Even though the upfront cost of drones is expensive, then, they likely save money in the long term because less pesticide spray is used and fewer people are needed to monitor the crop status.

A drone also can be more convenient than either waiting for satellite imaging, which can be impacted negatively by weather and is on an inflexible orbit, or a manned airplane, which is very expensive, large and requires extensive training.

Drones fit into a niche: they offer flexibility without the hindrance of size or the dangers of flying a plane.

One attendee of Leggett’s presentation was Stephen Wrecsics, a GIS associate planner with Morrow County. Wrecsics said he uses drones to help collect the data the county’s planning department uses to make decisions, map materials and areas, and stay in compliance with state laws in public works projects.

“I came for the demonstration because the county is always, you know, we need to stay with the current technology,” he said, “and provide the best services that we can for the people in Morrow County.”

A focus on ag youth

Around 100 or so people milled about in the first few hours of the event, talking to vendors, eating tamales and networking.

Carly Bash, 14, said she attended the event to meet new people and learn more about the industry. Working in agriculture could be a good backup, she said, in case her goal of being a marine biologist doesn’t work out.

“It’s fun,” she said part way through the morning. “I would definitely do it again.”

Around 20 of her young peers attended a presentation on animal nutrition and showmanship by Northwest Farm Supply employees Juliann Bruce and Dee Michael.

The women wanted to talk to the kids about how to support their farm animals’ health through nutrition and supplements.

“I never got to do 4H and FFA,” said Michael, “so it’s important to me to make sure kids know about the programs and that it’s available to them.”

Michael, a retail performance specialist, said she chose to highlight their partnership with Purina after hearing from young people last year that they’d struggled to get their animal to reach the required weight and therefore couldn’t show them.

She thought an educational session with Bruce, who has experience with showing animals, would be a great way to do something concrete to support them.

“If you take good care of your animal and you work with it all the time, and you are able to provide for it and keep it healthy and comfortable, it’s going to work for you,” Bruce said of the impact of nutrition on showing animals. “It’s going to keep you comfortable. It’s going to be happy to work for you.”

Another presentation focused on helping young people succeed came from Oregon Human Development Corporation, a nonprofit focused on economic support and development for farmworkers. It is also the operator in Oregon of the National Farmworker Jobs Program, a federal system to help with employment and training services.

Jose Lomas, the Hermiston office manager, said OHDC offers a three-month work experience program to young people who need on the job training, especially if they are not pursuing education after high school.

The OHDC also offers scholarships to youth who have worked in agriculture or have guardians who have a background in agriculture.

“We can help them with tuition, with rent, even a computer,” said OHDC workforce consultant Omar Guzman. “We also offer trainings for customer service and the CDL (commercial driver’s license) certification.”

The nonprofit’s goal is to support farmworkers, many of whom are immigrants.

“We want farm work families to get better opportunities to find more sustainable jobs and a better quality of life,” Guzman said. That is also why OHDC offers housing assistance to people and families in need, including around 20-30 per month just in Morrow and Umatilla counties during the off-season in farming.

Unique offerings

While most vendors had candy or merchandise prizes to entice attendees, one booth offered tastes of locally made rum.

John Hasbrouck, founder and owner of Just Rum, is from the Pendleton area but now lives and distills his rum in Sandy. His mother, Wanda Alanis, markets the business in Pendleton, Stanfield and La Grande.

The two had seven bottles of Hasbrouck’s cane-juice-based rum open for people to try, from their simple white to their premium Queen’s Share wine-barrel rested rum.

Hasbrouck said he was a whisky guy until he inherited a pot still from his uncle and tried making rum. Now, he loves making different flavors and honoring the way rum was made in the 1600s, he said.

On day two, Hasbrouck’s unique vendor booth will be joined by other interactive attractions for Family Day, including food trucks and a coffee booth.

Along with more educational classes focused on home improvement, the Feb. 24 event will see puppies up for adoption, dancing horses and competitions for youth to try from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.