Joliet Junior College Agriculture/Horticulture

10/13/2026

We are proud of our now Sophomore student, Rylee Skillman, who jumped in to get involved and try new things all throughout her freshman year.

JJC student Rylee Skillman encourages others to participate in Collegiate Discussion Meet.

10/12/2026

The Livestock Judging Team has been hard at work over the last few weeks and we want to celebrate some of their contest success!

—WORLD BEEF EXPO—

FRESHMEN

4th Overall Team
4th Placings
5th Reasons

Amelia Barnum
6th Overall

— BOILERMAKER—

SOPHOMORES

2nd High Team Overall
2nd Reasons
2nd Sheep
2nd Goats
2nd Cattle

Ashlyn Kelly
3rd High Individual Overall
1st Goats
6th Cattle
7th Sheep
6th Reasons

Bella Yarc
9th High Individual Overall
5th Sheep

Rylee Skillman
6th Goats
10th Reasons

Faustina Krysciak
10th Cattle

Freshmen

4th High Team Overall
3rd Cattle
4th Sheep
4th Reasons

Kyle Deppe
5th High Individual Overall
2nd Cattle
T-10 Reasons

Amelia Barnum
10th High Individual
5th Sheep
T-10 Reasons

Madison Stein
High Individual Sheep

Thank you to the countless operations who have hosted the team and provided livestock for judging team. Thank you isn’t enough!

09/21/2026

Open House is THIS WEDNESDAY! There is still time to RSVP by emailing [email protected] . 🎉

Every year we look forward to welcoming interested schools and students onto campus to see what our Agriculture and Horticulture programs have to offer! Our Fall Open house is approaching quickly - RSVP today!! Link is in the comments.

09/15/2026

For nearly 15 years, Shoup Manufacturing has been a dedicated partn...

09/10/2026

Just under 2 weeks until our open house !!

Every year we look forward to welcoming interested schools and students onto campus to see what our Agriculture and Horticulture programs have to offer! Our Fall Open house is approaching quickly - RSVP today!! Link is in the comments.

09/04/2026

Every year we look forward to welcoming interested schools and students onto campus to see what our Agriculture and Horticulture programs have to offer! Our Fall Open house is approaching quickly - RSVP today!! Link is in the comments.

06/24/2026

While our students are currently enjoying summer break and staying busy with internships, we thought we’d take a moment to highlight some of the great experiences they had during the spring semester—better late than never!

Students in our AGRI 104 Animal Evaluation course enjoyed a semester full of field trips designed to help them better understand livestock evaluation both before and after the harvest process. A huge thank you to Kenny Dau and the Dau Family, Karen Monkemeyer and Blueprint Pork, and the Kempiak Family at Lisbon Locker for opening their operations and providing our students with valuable, hands-on learning experiences.

These students also traveled to Purdue University to compete in the North Central Meat Animal Evaluation Contest. There, they had the opportunity to connect live animal evaluation with carcass results and gain a deeper understanding of how differences observed on the hoof translate into differences in the cooler. Thank you to the students at Purdue, as well as Hattie McGrady and Clay Kretzmeier, for hosting a fantastic contest and learning experience.

Closer to home, 31 of our students traveled to Bloomington to compete at the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Judging Conference. Students participated in 14 different contests, sharpening their skills in areas ranging from Precision Agriculture and Ag Computers to Livestock Judging and Horticulture. Beyond the competitions, they enjoyed networking with students from colleges and universities across the country.

A special thank you to everyone at Illinois State University for organizing and hosting an outstanding conference. We are proud of all our students for taking advantage of these opportunities and representing Joliet Junior College so well throughout the spring semester!

06/15/2026

The Horticulture program is pleased to introduce and welcome Ashley Juenke as our new Greenhouse and Land Lab Manager here at Joliet Junior College! She is a wonderful new addition to our Horticulture team, and we are delighted to have her.
Ashley brings fantastic experience to our program. Before joining JJC, she worked as a Growing Specialist at Gotham Greens in Chicago. There, she led the Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program in their large rooftop greenhouse.
Ashley earned her Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Plant Systems from the University of Arizona. Her college studies focused heavily on Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA). While at school, she also worked in special hydroponic research greenhouses. This work helped develop her expertise in modern greenhouse growing and research methods.
We look forward to the organization and technical expertise Ashley will bring to our facilities. Please join us in giving her a warm welcome to the JJC family!

05/15/2026

We had such a fantastic day celebrating all of our sophomores! Starting the day with internship presentations, then our Agriculture Sophomore Celebration, and finally the 2026 JJC Commencement Ceremony!

WOW what a group! Don’t be strangers. 💜

05/01/2026

Every year we look forward to spotlighting our sophomore agriculture students. This year is no different! We are looking forward to celebrating their achievements as the semester wraps up.