FFA STUDENTS SHOW LEADERSHIP THROUGH ‘DAY ON THE FARM’ EVENT

On Wednesday, May 22, the Spencer FFA and Agriculture Department put on our annual Day on the Farm. This event takes place at the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station. Members of the research station play a huge role in this event and we thank them dearly for their work and collaboration.

We break the day up into two parts, “Food for America” and “Agriculture Safety.” Fourth graders attend our morning session and learn the basics of how we produce food for our world. The stations teach the basics of nut production, TMR (total mixed ration), My Plate and dairy production. We also include a farm tour wagon ride and a dairy cow digestive system presentation, led by USDA research technicians Meredith Anderson and Robin Odgen.

Third graders take part in safety demonstrations and discussions during the second half of the day. Here stations consist of sun, ATV, lawnmower, tractor and animal safety. High school students go over how to be safe when operating equipment or even just being around it. Every station includes a fun review game or activity with prizes. Our hope is to help implement farm safety and knowledge at a young age.

Spencer middle and high school students eagerly look forward to this event every year. They put work in weeks beforehand to revise our stations to help increase engagement from the third and fourth graders. This year our students took a strong initiative to work on the stations and to ensure everything ran smoothly and effectively. I was very impressed and proud of the effort put in by all of our students. Many have already started to come up with ideas for next year’s Day on the Farm event.

We hope to continue to teach the importance of agriculture at a young age for many years to come!

~Samuel Schmitt, Spencer agriculture education teacher