By Jennifer Whitlock
Field Editor
More than 400 fourth grade students from six schools across Tyler County now know more about agriculture, thanks to the efforts of Tyler County Farm Bureau (CFB).
In late September, the organization hosted its first educational event since COVID-19 cancelled most public events and large gatherings in 2020.
“All six elementary schools participated this year, so we had some really big numbers in attendance. And it was more special than usual because we had to cancel our plans last September, so everyone was kind of excited to get out there again,” Jacob Spivey, Tyler CFB board member, said. “It was great to get students from all across our county together again to learn more about agriculture and why it’s so important to their daily lives.”
Ten stations featuring demonstrations on a variety of agricultural topics were set up during the Ag Day to provide the elementary students an immersive experience. Students learned about beekeeping, floral arrangements and horticulture, dairy farming, wildlife management, careers in the forestry sector and more.
Texas Farm Bureau’s mobile learning barn and Southwest Dairy Farmers’ mobile milking barn helped kids make connections between what they see on grocery store shelves and where those products begin, Spivey said.
“We’re a rural county with only about 21,000 residents. We’re about 45 minutes to an hour from any sort of metro area. Although we’re rural, most of our agriculture is timber and forestry related, so traditional agriculture is not as prevalent as other rural areas,” he said. “What most of our students know about agriculture is maybe they have a home garden or a couple of cows. But when it comes to true agricultural systems and things like row crops or livestock feeding operations or dairy farms, there’s a big lack of knowledge.”
Throughout the Ag Day, elementary students were able to touch different types of wool, wild game pelts and flowers. Spivey noted those tactile experience stations help students grasp what agriculture looks like in different settings.
“The kids were really excited about all the different stations we had set up. They loved seeing and touching the milk cow and animal pelts, smelling the flowers and just experiencing all the different things we had available for them,” he said. “We’re so thankful for the people who put in a lot of work and volunteered their time to make this memorable for them.”
Even rural county Farm Bureaus must continue to engage with youth and other members of their community, he added.
“There are always adults or other people in the stands who tell us they learn things every time we host an Ag Day,” Spivey said. “Some adults who haven’t been exposed to agriculture still think stuff like, ‘brown cows give chocolate milk’ or, ‘only brown chickens lay brown eggs.’ So, it’s important that we continue to engage with our community and help them understand the truth about agriculture and share what farmers and ranchers know.