Each year, every county’s Farm Bureau Association submits a summary of its work in three areas: Advocacy, Education and Service. Every association earns points based on its activity and Barton County Farm Bureau Association typically receives the Platinum County Showcase Award, the highest award attainable for counties, based on its efforts.
Jerry Esfeld, a retired teacher in Great Bend Public Schools, now works as the Barton County Farm Bureau Association coordinator in all three areas. When it comes to education, she visited 38 classrooms in 2024, presenting programs to 913 students.
“I taught school for 46 years,” Esfeld said. After she retired 16 years ago, she started her part-time job at Farm Bureau. She presents hands-on activities with lessons that children can grasp. Over the course of a school year, she tries to visit every K-4 classroom in Barton County. On Kansas Day, she visited all of the students in the Otis-Bison school district.
“We also do education for adults,” Esfeld said. FFA sponsors and other teachers can attend a “train the trainer” session.
The lessons vary by the age of the students. This month, she is showing first graders how to make a “germination wheat necklace.” A few dormant seeds are placed in a clear plastic jewelry bag with two to three beads of water. By punching a hole in the top of the bag and stringing it on a loop of yarn, this little bag can be worn as a necklace. In three or four days, the seeds will swell, germinate and become seedlings.
Esfeld’s “Circles of the Earth” lesson for third graders focuses on keeping the planet healthy by saving the land, water and air. Third graders make a bracelet with different colored beads to signify six elements of the Earth: People, water, plants, soil, air and sun.
The goal of these classroom visits is to give students an awareness of where their food comes from, Esfeld said.
The world’s population reached 8 billion people in 2022 and only 1/32 of the Earth’s surface is farmable, Esfeld said. Earth.org reports land occupies roughly 29% of the Earth’s surface and about 38% of the land surface is used for agriculture, which includes cropland and pastures for grazing livestock.
Barton County Farm Bureau has close to 1,900 members and is probably one of the strongest chapters in Kansas, in Esfeld’s estimation. Thanks to its active nine-member board and many volunteers, Barton County is represented at state and national Farm Bureau meetings.
The Kansas Farm Bureau Ag Education website (kfb.org/Education) notes: “Agriculture impacts everyone’s life. Food, fuel, clothing, medicine and housing are just a few of the ways we rely on agriculture. Showcasing the importance of agriculture to a multitude of audiences helps sustain positive perceptions of agriculture. Kansas Farm Bureau works to promote awareness of agriculture’s importance to every community throughout the state by providing resources to members, coordinators, teachers and legislators.” The website offers educational resources for lesson ideas, hands-on activities, handouts and more.
Lesson plan
Elementary school teachers looking for a fun lesson plan for students or parents trying to find educational activities to keep kids entertained can find instructions for how to make a seed germination necklace on the Kansas Farm Food Connection website, https://kansasfarmfoodconnection.org/spotlights/how-to-make-a-seed-germination-necklace.
