The Minnesota Association for Career and Technical Education (MnACTE) named Riverland Community College’s Tom Anderson, a farm business management instructor, as the ACTE/Region III Postsecondary Teacher of the Year for 2015.

“We are proud of Mr. Anderson’s achievement,” said Riverland President Dr. Adenuga Atewologun in a press release. “His best in class expertise that he offers to his students and the Farm Business Management program is admirable and not only enhances the program but the college as a whole.”

Anderson was selected above other candidates from Region III, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin. The award recognizes career and technical teachers and teacher educators who have demonstrated excellence and best practices in career and technical education at the postsecondary level including the following.

Anderson now competes against four other regional winners for the national ACTE 2015 Postsecondary Teacher of the Year at the ACTE Career Vision Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana Nov. 18 to 22. He will also be recognized at the upcoming Minnesota CTE Works Conference on Nov. 5 in Minnetonka.

Anderson has been the farm management business instructor at Riverland since 1997. Before that, he taught high school agriculture in Plainview for 18 years and saw a need for continuing management education, as many of his former students are now farmers. As a result, he applied and was hired for the teaching position at Riverland in order to ensure his former students received a quality postsecondary education in farm business management.

In 2007, Anderson became interested in robotic milking and began a professional improvement plan to center on expertise in robotic milking. He connected with Lely, a robotic milking company from Holland. Since that time, he has toured/traveled twice to Europe and been the guest speaker/educator to more than 1,000 producers, lenders and educators at numerous locations including Florida, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky and a variety of locations in Minnesota.

“I am a firm believer in this technology,” Anderson said in a press release. “[Lely] enhances quality family life through flexibility of scheduling and promotes a healthier cow and enhances longevity of the cow.  It is a win/win for both the family and livestock.”

Anderson uses a myriad of learning styles and topics to promote a strong management program. Instructional methods include the traditional on-farm student visits and webinars with producers and lenders reviewing analysis, cash flows and more.

Farm professionals are invited to address pressing topics for dairy farmers including Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) evaluation, Bovine Somatotropin (BST) usage, feed cost, robotics, employee evaluation, recordkeeping, analysis interpretation, crop insurance, and strategic planning in turbulent times.  Small group discussions always follow these presentations. Dairy peer groups of seven to nine farmers meet on a regular basis.  Regional educational tours offer students innovative ideas for future implementation.

Riverland’s Farm Business Management Program, one of the college’s highest enrolled programs, is designed to help organize a farmer’s resources to assist in meeting family and financial goals.

Now in its 87th year, ACTE is a national education association dedicated to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for careers.