No, chocolate milk doesn’t come from brown cows and farmers aren’t men who wear overalls and straw hats, like “Old MacDonald.”
For 30 years, Barton County’s fourth graders have experienced Kids Ag Day, where they learn that food doesn’t magically appear in grocery stores but comes from farms. They spend a day on the Diamond K Farm at 706 SW 20 Road, owned by the Koelsch family. By spending a day on a working farm and being exposed to multiple presentations, the children gain a better understanding of the connection and process between farm and plate.
The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture notes that kids have several misconceptions about agriculture. For starters, farmers – who can be male or female – are just like everyone else. What they wear depends on what they are doing. As for chocolate milk, it is regular milk with chocolate syrup added.
It’s also not true that farming is an antiquated practice with push plows and other old-fashioned implements. Farmers use GPS technology to help them plant their fields, drones to survey the land, and more new technology to precisely measure the amount of nutrients and water each plant needs.
Over the years, Kids Ag Day has taught children lessons on nutrition and soil erosion. They’ve learned about bees and seen horses shoed. Even though the organizers emphasize the modern methods involved in agriculture today, the children always learn a little about “The Cowboy Way” and they ride on a hayrack. After all, some of the old traditions are still with us.
The one thing that’s been missing from this program over the years is a corresponding Adults Ag Day. Fourth graders aren’t the only ones out there who could benefit from a better understanding of where our food comes from. Some things adults should know:
• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly 99% of farms in the United States are family owned.
• Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) aren’t bad for you. Farmers have been breeding plants and animals for the most desirable traits for centuries. Modern genetic modification may be done in a lab, but it’s not the work of mad scientists.
• Farming produces more than food; crops also provide material for clothes and a long list of other products, not to mention flowers and other plants to decorate our homes.
The next best thing to Adults Ag Day is for grown-ups to join Kids Ag Day. This year, Great Bend Chamber of Commerce invites Chamber members, businesses and volunteers to experience Kids Ag Day by coming out to the Diamond K Farm on Sept. 4 for breakfast from 6:30-7:30 a.m. and a ribbon cutting at 7:45 a.m. The adults are invited to join a hayrack ride and tour the stations. To learn more call the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce, 620-792-2401. Donations are also accepted to support this program that fosters a deeper connection with our agricultural community. Those may be mailed to the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce, 1125 Williams St., Great Bend, KS 67530 in care of Kids Ag Day.
