Ag in the Classroom

Yesterday Scott and I had the privilege to go to the school our children attend, Northside Elementary, and participate in our county Farm Bureau's Ag in the Classroom event.  We got to talk about Ag with 65 AWESOMELY BEHAVED 5th graders.  This is the 3rd year we have participated in the event and our co-speakers have remained the same.  Between the 4 of us we cover a lot of areas of agriculture and give the students a diverse example of agricultural careers.  Our partners in Ag include Dustin Anderson...

Dustin is a husband, father of 3 boys, school board member, and a crop and hog farmer - and graduated from the St. James schools.

Dustin is showing the kids a feed sample.  Did you know pigs have more taste buds than humans but are fed the same thing everyday?!?

Our other partner in Ag education is Kinzee Miest - she is an awesome "teacher" and is the perfect example of being involved in Ag at a young age - she is a freshman at St. James High School.  Her family runs a dairy - she is the oldest of 3 kids.  Did you know that each cow in a dairy has a name and isn't just a number?  Love that!

Dairy farmers NEVER get a day off - the cows need to be milked twice a day.  It doesn't matter if it is Easter, Christmas, your birthday, or you want to go on a vacation - the cows NEED to be milked - think of that next time you grab a gallon out of your fridge.  Thank a dairy farmer!

Last up was Scott and me.  This year was a special year as our oldest, Jacob, is in 5th grade and we have never presented Ag in the Classroom to one of our own!  I don't have a lot to teach about Ag as I am new to a lot of it myself.  I do my best to support those in the Ag industry - from doing Scott's paperwork to organizing events such as Farm and Home Safety Camp, Ag in the Classroom, and Breakfast on the Farm.  I'm kind of a behind the scenes paperwork person.

Unlike me, my wonderful husband can educate on a number of levels - he shares hands on experience about livestock hauling, grain hauling, truck mechanic work, farming, and dispatching trucks.  Do you eat John Morrell bacon, Armour Lunchmakers, Gatorade, Quaker granola bars?  There is a good chance G&M Runge, Inc. hauled them to Minnesota for you!  On a side note - notice that Scott is wearing a wedding ring in the picture above - that is not a normal occurrence for someone in his profession - most mechanics and farmers do not wear their wedding rings because they risk losing a finger if it gets caught on something.  I love and appreciate my husband because he had the forethought to stick the ring in his pocket to wear it when we went to the school.  Way better than getting flowers!!!

Our Ag in the Classroom team 3 years strong! Dustin, Kinzee, Scott, & Sam.

After school I took the kids to SuperFair Foods to complete the Farm Bureau Spring Picnic Marketbasket Survey.  The Marketbasket Survey is a survey run through the American Farm Bureau Federation to track retail food price trends and overall affordability of food in America.

Complete!

My day was complete with my first Harley ride of the year - a little cold and windy, but a RIDE is a RIDE!