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Foundation Recognizes Finney County Farm Bureau, Kansas "Friends on the Farm" Program

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture (AFBFA) is honoring the Finney County, Kansas, Farm Bureau board of directors for their Friends on the Farm agricultural education program. The Friends on the Farm activity brings information about agriculture into local fourth-grade classrooms. The program is designed to educate students about agriculture and how it is part of their lives, from the food they eat to the clothes they wear.bee 

 

The Finney County Farm Bureau board has organized Friends on the Farm for the last 12 years. During the 2010-2011 school year,

560 students from 35 classes participated.  

 

"Friends on the Farm is a good way to get kids who are not on the farm connected to agriculture," said Shane Knoll, Finney County Farm Bureau president. "Education is our main goal here."

 

The program starts in the classroom and ends with a field trip to an exhibition building set up with agriculture-related stations. The county Farm Bureau board invites teachers to participate and then sends ag education materials to help them integrate agriculture into their lessons. Board members follow up with visits to the classrooms to share agricultural trivia, describe the ag information stations that the students will see on their field trip and talk about their own farms.

 tractor

On the day of the field trip, students from each classroom rotate through 15-minute sessions at educational stations about agricultural commodities and science and technology topics. Stations include cattle, tractors and spray rigs for the students to see, as well as actual food products made from wheat, soybeans and the other food commodities that are discussed. Local FFA chapters, equipment dealers, Extension agents and farmers and ranchers help put on the program.

   

The Finney County Farm Bureau board continues to expand the program by reaching out and building relationships with more teachers. The program has recently expanded to include fourth-graders in an adjoining county.

 

"The Foundation thanks the Finney County Farm Bureau board of directors and member volunteers for organizing the event and participating in agricultural education," said Dan Durheim, AFBFA executive director. "Friends on the Farm is an outstanding example of how we can all build awareness, understanding and a positive public perception of agriculture through education."