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Under Jonda Crosby’s Management
BY MARY MAXWELL
Centre Co. Correspondent
Penn State’s Circleville Farm is
an unusual place and consequently
its manager must possess unusual
skills.
The 176 acre farm is an
undergraduate learning place
where Penn State students experi
ence typical farm activities. And
this is where Farm Manager Jonda
Crosby’s special skills come in.
She’s the person who coordinates
the on-going, essential life of the
farm with the interests and needs
of the many who use it.
Jonda has been involved in agri
culture throughout her life. She
grew up on a dairy farm in Wyom
ing County, N.Y. and shared in the
care of a registered Holstein herd.
Since her parents both worked off
the farm, chores and haymaking
became the responsibility of the
seven Crosby children.
After high school she attended
Alfred University for two years
before going on to Murray State
College in KY, for her B.S. and
M.S. in Vocational Agriculture.
Both colleges are relatively small
agriculture schools and they gave;
Jonda hands-on learning experi
ences outside the classroom. She
believes this was an essential part
of her college education, but one
that Penn State students have not
had until recently.
After college Jonda worked as
an embryo transplant technician, a
Vo-Ag teacher and county agent.
Last year the Circleville Farm
Manager position became vacant
and Jonda felt she had acquired
enough knowledge and skills to
apply for the job.
The hiring committee in the
College of Agriculture apparently
felt her qualifications fit the job, as
well, and Jonda Crosby became
Circleville Farm’s new manager.
Jonda, as farm manager, works
closely with five undergraduate
student managers. “This is one of
the strong points of our farm prog
ram;" she says. “Undergraduate
managers have an opportunity to
either fine-tune skills they already
have or they can move into an area
of high interest and develop their
understanding and skills there.”
For undergraduate animal sci
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Farm Manager: Jonda Crosby and undergraduate
Livestock Manager,* Kimberly Osborne from Hadley,
Pa., build pens for the turkey flock expected soon at
the Penn State* Clrclevilte Farm.
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Penn State Farm Flourishes
ence major, Kim Osborne, Lives
tock Manager, this not only means
continuing her interest in sheep by
caring for and expanding the sheep
herd on the farm, but also acquir
ing from Jonda and others asso
ciated with the farm the rest of the
knowledge and skills necessary for
her job.
Walt Whitmer, International
Agriculture student manager,
works under Jonda developing the
sustainable agriculture plots. His
area has the largest number of vol
unteers, about 30-40, working at
the farm. Again, the exchange of
ideas is paramount to success.
Walt develops his ideas with Jon
da, with the farm administrative
committees and with the volun
teers, many of whom have had
actual experience in Third-World
countries and are returning to fin
ish undergraduate degrees.
Ike Kershner, Horticulture stu
dent manager, Paul Bucciaglia,
Agronomic student manager, and
Ted Brown, Ag Engineering stu
dent manager, also rely on Jonda’s
experience and knowledge; never
theless, they have ample opportun
ity to try their own ideas. “This is
pretty much a no-fail setting,” says
Jonda. “The undergraduate student
managers talk over their ideas with
me, our advisor Neil Gingrich, the
Farm’s director Carolyn Sachs,
and our faculty advisors on the
campus. The students have plenty
of opportunity to try things out, but
a lot of us are around to prevent
disasters.”
Sachs, who teaches rural sociol
ogy in addition to directing the
farm, says, “It is in this area of
coordinating ideas and people that
Jonda is paricularly skillful.”
Jonda feels the “hands-on”
opportunities available at the farm
are extremely important for Penn
State students.” A recent study of
seniors in agriculture pointed out
that 70% came from non-farming
backgrounds,” she reports. “And,”
she adds, “even with a farm back
ground like mine, you may know a
lot about dairy and haymaking but
still have little experience in other,
areas of farm production.”
Providing her managers and
other students with the opportunity
to learn by doing is a large part of
Jonda’s job. For may students who
y v /pi. . .ng. .ernor School scholars who
had weekly sessions at the Penn State farm. From left to right are: Diane
McNeill, Ambridge; Rebecca Wagner, Jersey Shore; Mark Swartz,
Mechanlcsburg-Cumberland Valley; Jonda and Brian Pavlakovic, Latrobe.
come to the farm as volunteers, she
structures tasks, makes tools avail
able, helps with procedures and, of
course, answers questions. For the
students using the farm for credit
earning courses, she must be avail
able to develop procedures and
teach skills while entertaining the
ideas of all.
In addition, student groups often
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came for short-term periods of
instruction, usually related to
classroom learning on the campus.
For example the 65 high school
students attending the recent Gov
ernor’s School for Agriculture had
weekly sessions on the farm. At
other timeS'community groups like
YMCA day campers come to look
at the animals or take a hay ride.
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Going over the field
crop notebooks of Agro
nomic student manager
Paul Bucclaglia from
Naugatuck, Conn. Is a
regular part of the
responsibilities of Circle
ville Farm Manager Jonda
Crosby.
Workshops on Women in Agricul
ture, Beekeeping, or High Tensile
Fencing offer opportunities for
additional groups to use the farm’s
facilities.
Considering all these activities
and the many people involved in
the work, one wonders how the
College of Agriculture ever got
without Circlevillc Farm.