By Jennifer Whitlock
Field Editor
In the last Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Farm From School session of the Fall 2021 semester, young Texas students participated in an interactive lesson on poultry farming with Texas A&M University Poultry Science Associate Professor Dr. Craig Coufal.
Through video conferencing technology, the students “visited” the Texas A&M Poultry Science Research, Teaching and Extension Center to learn how eggs and chickens go from the farm to the store to their plates.
Texas is the fifth-leading state in the nation for chicken meat and eggs, and Texas A&M’s modern research facility conducts studies to help improve poultry science.
The students watched as Coufal brought in different birds to discuss breeds of chickens raised for eggs or meat. Using the chat function, the kids were able to send in questions for him to answer in real time.
They were not only interested in the chickens and poultry farm, but they also wanted to know more about Coufal’s career. One student asked him how he uses science in his job each day.
“What I do every day is kind of like when you go to the doctor for a checkup each year. The doctor weighs you, measures how tall you are, how much you weigh, how much you’re growing every year,” he said. “We do the same thing with the birds, so we can understand how, as managers, to better take care of the birds to maximize the number of eggs and pounds of meat we can produce. We try to produce those foods you love at the least cost. Because, ultimately, that’s our job—to feed the world.”
Participants heard more about choosing appropriate feed for chickens, why they’re housed indoors and how each part of their environment has been carefully selected to provide the most humane experience possible.
“So far this year, we’ve had individual farmers showing us their crops and talking about how they grow those commodities, but this time we had a college professor giving us an overview of raising poultry in Texas,” said Jordan Bartels, TFB associate director of Organization Division, Educational Outreach. “It wasn’t just one crop or one farm, but more of a ‘big-picture’ look at how chickens are raised for eggs and for meat. The students were able to learn how different people have different careers in agriculture, too. Many of them didn’t realize you could be a scientist who raises chickens, so they were interested in not just the chickens but what Dr. Coufal does, as well.”
Over the course of the Fall 2021 semester, more than 400 teachers and 10,000 students interacted with farmers, ranchers and other agricultural professionals through Farm From School.
Bartels noted the students are eager to learn more from farmers and ranchers about animals and crops, but as with some of the questions directed at Coufal, they’re also interested in the people’s lives, as well.
“I think one of the things that has stuck out to me the most is their interest in how the farmer became a farmer,” Bartels said. “The kids have been really interested to know how they stepped into agriculture and what they love most about it. That’s encouraging because some of these students might decide to be a farmer or rancher or a pursue an ag-related profession because of their experiences today.”
Many of the classes participating in Farm From School this fall will continue in the spring semester. But new classes can sign up, too.
TFB will also provide TEKS-aligned lessons, activity books and other companion resource materials for the virtual farm visits. Public, private and homeschool educators who teach kindergarten through fifth grade are eligible to participate.
Interested teachers can sign up at https://txfb.us/FFSregister22. Sign up closes Jan. 7, 2022, for the spring semester.
Additional details about the program, including dates and crops featured, will be added on TFB’s Agriculture in the Classroom webpage as they become available.
Contact Bartels at edoutreach@txfb.org or call 254.751.2569.