Education from farm to table

<p>Students at Indian Creek High School may soon be able to help raise and feed cattle, with the possibility of a farm-to-table program in the future that would bring beef from the farm to the school cafeterias.</p><p>That’s the vision Joe Dunn, the school’s agriculture teacher, has for the fall, when he plans to bring cattle to land just south of the school, he said. His plans for a three-acre pasture include a barn to house the animals, a fence and electric and water lines. Although the animals were donated, the cost of those structures and utilities, along with the cost of food for the animals, totals about $50,000, he said.</p><p>The beef farm will be called Creek Cattle Company, and the school district will purchase the animals from the farm and pay for them to be processed, rather than doing so with another distributor, Dunn said.</p><p>Agriculture students presented to the Johnson County Farm Bureau Monday, and plan to present to Friends of Johnson County Agriculture and Farm Credit Mid-America in hopes of getting funding from the groups. Fundraising efforts at the district, along with profits from the harvest of a 50-acre corn farm that will debut this summer, will help cover the cost, Dunn said.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>The introduction of the corn farm will be the first time Indian Creek has had a farm since the 1980s and ‘90s, when the district grew corn and soybeans on land now occupied by Dairy Queen and Subway, he said.</p><p>That farm will shrink, or may possibly be gone after this year, as Indian Creek looks to build a new bus garage and sports fields just south of the middle and high school. The beef farm, however, takes up less space and has the potential to be a much more permanent part of Indian Creek, Dunn said.</p><p>Dunn was originally inspired by a trip to Maconaquah Middle School in Bunker Hill, Indiana where a similar program is in place and students are eating beef from animals that once roamed a pasture outside the school, he said.</p><p>“The inspiration is the idea that we are now, kids and society (are) now four to six generations away from the farm and they don’t understand where their food comes from,” Dunn said. “They don’t understand the importance of caring for animals who are going to be put in circulation in the food industry. That’s the inspiration. This will be a student-led project where kids will take care of animals.”</p><p>That care includes making sure the animals are healthy, feeding the animals every morning and afternoon and walking them, he said.</p><p>Although senior Emma Spurgeon, the school’s FFA president who grew up on a family farm, will not be around to experience the benefit of the beef farm in either FFA or her agriculture classes, she said the program will allow other students to see a small part of how agriculture works outside the classroom.</p><p>“Kids learn the information in class but it will help them understand the process,” Spurgeon said of the beef farm. “In our agriculture classes we’re learning about different feeds we could give animals (and) we’re learning how minerals and feeds will help an animal grow and develop and keep healthy. By using this (knowledge) in real life, we can see how we can help animals and keep them healthy.”</p><p>While students in the school’s FFA program can learn about different types of soil and livestock through internet resources, having real life examples right next to the school will help them better prepare for competition, Spurgeon said. Students may also be able to use their experience on the farm to complete a Supervised Agricultural Experience project, which is required for a Chapter FFA degree, she said.</p>