By Julie Tomascik
Editor
How does food get to the grocery store? What do local farmers do? And what are possible careers in agriculture? That’s just some of the information fourth-grade students from Nacogdoches County learned from farmers and ranchers last month.
Nacogdoches County Farm Bureau held its annual Ag Day on Oct. 27 for fourth graders to learn more about farming, ranching and wildlife.
“In Nacogdoches County, there is a larger percentage of students, compared to your bigger schools in the state, that have some interaction with agriculture. But there’s still a lot of them in the school system who don’t have any knowledge or experience with agriculture,” Hyman Boozer, Nacogdoches County Farm Bureau board member, said. “So, it’s very important for Nacogdoches County Farm Bureau to present that information to them.”
And they do it in a fun and engaging manner.
During the Ag Day, there were several stations set up to give students a chance to learn about the diversity of agriculture in the area, as well as a look at wildlife.
The event including a milking demonstration from the Southwest Dairy Farmers mobile milking barn and a discussion about the Texas dairy industry.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service presented a water demonstration to show students the water cycle and how water is funneled to the roots to help grass and crops grow.
A game warden discussed wildlife, and Central Heights FFA gave a presentation about chicken production.
A local farrier demonstrated how to shoe horses and discussed why horses wear shoes.
Texas Farm Bureau’s mobile learning barn helped students better understand how the products they see on grocery store shelves get their start on Texas farms and ranches.
In addition, local EMS professionals gave a presentation to show how they help with injuries that can happen on the farm.
“It seemed like the students and teachers really enjoyed the day,” Boozer said. “We had a lot of really good and positive feedback.”
There were nearly 300 students in attendance.
“This event has been going on a long time,” Boozer said. “We think it’s really important that we teach the younger generation the importance of agriculture and give them learning opportunities like this.”
To schedule a visit from TFB’s Mobile Learning Barn, contact your county Farm Bureau office, email MLB@txfb.org or call 254-751-2273.
For more information, visit https://texasfarmbureau.org/youth/ag-in-the-community.