OMAHA, Neb. —

Students from Bryan High School's agriculture academy got out of the classroom Wednesday- to talk crops with U.S. Rep. Don Bacon and U.S. Department of Agriculture acting undersecretary Dr. Ann Bartuska.

"It opens up a lot more opportunities for some of the kids in our agriculture academy to branch out and see a bunch of different ideas of what kind of careers are out there,” Nicholas Birdsley, a student in the agriculture academy, said.

A partnership between the Omaha Home for Boys, the state Extension Office, and Nebraska's College of Technical Agriculture are trying to turn the focus to local farming.

Bacon serves on the House Committee on Agriculture- and brought Bartuska out to see the research happening across Nebraska. Bacon said more and more people are moving off farms and into cities. Bartuska agreed, saying more than 80 percent of of the American people live in urban areas. She added the USDA is working to find ways to fund and encourage urban agriculture.

"For me to be able to get out and see on the ground activities, to see this kind of operation, is really a pleasure,” Bartuska said. “The partnership that exists here is, I think, a really special one, because it connects to the youth to education and, hopefully, creates our next population of farmers and ranchers."

“The urban agriculture concept is important, because as we consolidate off the farms into cities, there's still a demand for agriculture jobs,” Bacon said.

Examples of urban agriculture given by the USDA are small community gardens, urban farms that span several city blocks and intensive indoor hydroponic or aquaculture facilities.

Abril Serrato is a junior in the agriculture academy. When she first joined, she said she hated it. Now, it's become a part of her future.

"I realized that I actually really liked it, that it's much more than farming and animals, you know. There's agri-business and communications,” Serrato said.

Serrato is hoping to go to law school and focus on farm law.
She's a major supporter of urban agriculture, saying more people need to be in touch with the industry.
Dr. Dan Rosati, dean of the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, said he’s looking to the next generation.

“We know that the world population is predicted to increase from seven billion today to nine billion by 2050.” Rosati said. “That's two billion more people, and that's going to require an additional 70 percent increase of food production. “It’s the young people here today we're going to rely on to produce that food in the future."
Another focus of the program is local growth. Nebraska extension's leaders said Americans aren't eating enough locally sourced vegetables and fruits.

"I can't stress enough how you need to know where your food comes from, you need to know what you're feeding your kids, what you're feeding yourself,” Serrato said.

The program hopes to encourage people within city limits to find their green thumb.

"It's about producing local food, it’s about making it available to people, and in the process, improving the health of our community and this state,” Dr .Chuck Hibberd, dean and director of Nebraska Extension, said.

To learn what it takes to start an urban farm, click here: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/urban-agriculture-toolkit.pdf