More than 200 elementary aged students got the chance to experience different facets of agriculture during the fourth annual County of Barrhead Agriculture Day program.
Grade 4 and 5 students from Barrhead Elementary School (BES) and Neerlandia Public Christian School toured a number of area farms and agricultural businesses on Sept. 21 in the area to see the wide variety of careers available.
Penny Stephani, who was contracted by the county to organize the event, said the idea for Agriculture Day came from a similar program in Stony Plain called City Slickers.
The program, run by the city’s Multi Cultural Centre for the last 17 years, brings more than 1,000 Grade 4 and 5 students from Edmonton to Stony Plain area farms.
“It is really a wonderful program and its something we wouldn’t have if it were not for Marilyn Flock,” she said, adding the long-time agriculture fieldman had a dream of ensuring all students have an appreciation for agriculture. “If it weren’t for Marilyn going to the schools the program wouldn’t exist.”
Stephani said even though Barrhead is an agriculture community and many students have grown up on a farm, the majority don’t have a good grasp of the true scope of the industry.
“I know it seems shocking when you are in an agricultural community and they don’t seem to have a grasp on agriculture,” she said, adding it has more to do with what each student’s individual background is. “If you grew up on a beef farm, you probably have a strong understanding of how your farm works, but you don’t get to see what happens to the grain after it leaves the farm and goes to the mill. That’s what the tour is about, giving students an understanding about as many different aspects of agriculture as we can. It’s kind of a gate to the plate tour.”
The day started with the Grade 4s going to Richardson Milling and Baas Dairy, while the Grade 5s visited Schmidt Livestock and went on a field walk with Sheri Strydhorst, an agronomy research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry.
“We are really excited to have Sheri Strydhorst give us a tour of one of the government’s (wheat) test plots,” she said. “The kids were able to do some crop identification and at the same time see the harvest.”
A change from past years is that students won’t have the opportunity to visit Champion Feed Services.
In May, Hi-Pro Feeds closed its Barrhead location, choosing to consolidate its operations at its Olds, Ponoka and Westlock plants.
“Champion Feeds really did a good job of showing the food industry part of animal feed,” Stephani said.
In the afternoon the Grade 4s visited BES where they took part in various hands-on agriculture demonstrations, including presentations on chicken and hog farming and safety, before ending the day with a tour of Barr-North Veterinary Services.
The Grade 5s started the afternoon at the Barrhead Ag building where they participated in horse safety, sheep husbandry and tractor mechanics and safety.
From there, the students visited Assenheimer Farm where they took part in various displays and presentations on conservation, chemical and blind spot safety, and a farm equipment display.
“The students just loved it,” she said, adding she would be remiss if she didn’t thank the volunteers that made the day possible. “All totaled we had well over 50 people who gave their own time to show the students how important agriculture is in all our lives.”
