Farm2U returns to the Kansas State Fairgrounds, adding two new elementary schools to the program
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At the Kansas State Fair’s Prairie Pavilion, almost 350 third-grade students from 10 Hutchinson elementary schools filed in to learn how farmers and manufacturers make more than 100 everyday products.
The Reno County Farm Bureau Association began the Farm2U event for Hutchinson’s third-grade elementary students 12 years ago, teaching children 8 to 9 years old about different facets of agriculture.
For the last two years, COVID-19 shut down the Farm Bureau’s Farm2U events, but this year it returned and added two new schools, Central Christian School and Holy Cross Catholic School.
The other eight elementary schools include Graber, McCandless, South Hutchinson, Allen Magnet, Lincoln, Faris, Wiley and Morgan.
A primary focus of Farm2U is teaching children where food comes from and the different technologies that farmers and ranchers use to continue and advance agricultural practices.
The Reno County Farm Bureau Association board president, Cameron Peirce, said teaching kids at this age about agriculture is essential.
The day included five stations and a drone presentation involving agriculture and the various aspects of manufacturing products from livestock or crops.
“It’s an impressionable age to be teaching them, and the more we can teach them about where their food comes from, the better,” Peirce said.
Learning how to make pizza from farmers
One of the first activities the Farm Bureau introduced to children was where the ingredients in a pizza come from, from the crust to the cheese.
The beef exhibit let students see cattle in person, including a few calves, and taught them about the more than 100 products made from cattle, from meat to pharmaceuticals.
A student from Graber Elementary found the beef exhibit especially surprising — Jaydan Nevarez, 9, said he didn’t know how manufacturers used so many cattle byproducts in everyday items.
The exhibitor challenged the students to guess which products came from cattle at the exhibit.
“We thought we got some of them that were not cow items, like the ones made with metal, so we thought those weren’t made from cows, but they were all made from cows,” Jayden said.
Typically, a mobile dairy exhibit would visit along with the beef, grain and equipment exhibits, but that exhibit was not available this year.
Instead, Tony Seibert, an employee at Kauffman Seeds, provided an exhibit on sheep shearing. Tom Clayman taught the children about the different products made from wool as Seibert sheered.
“I like to teach the kids that it is a very reusable product and is environmentally safe,” Clayman said.
Clayman told the students that wool fiber is in clothing, skin products and felt.
Another station demonstrated how tractor equipment harvests row crops from a field. Peirce showed students the different parts of the harvester and how they functioned.
Eventually, the students visited the pizza station, where the exhibitor taught them how pizza products were, starting at the farm.
“I hope they’re a little more aware of where their food comes from, that it doesn’t just magically appear at home or in the grocery store,” Michelle Pitts, the Farm2U coordinator, said.
Teaching young students about agriculture
Some of the teachers grew up on a farm or were involved in agriculture, so teaching their students about farming was rewarding.
Ashley Franklin, a third-grade teacher at South Hutchinson Elementary, said teaching her students felt vital since it allowed them to understand the world and their community better.
“It’s exciting. I grew up on a farm, so for the kids to be like, ‘Oh, that’s from a farmer, that’s what that big thing is,’ it’s enjoyable to see them learn,” Franklin said.
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