Ag Days brings students together to learn about farming

The sounds of cracking, grinding corn kernels was only overcome by boisterous laughter and shouts of excitement.

Fourth-grade students from Creekside Elementary School crowded around the antique corn shellers, feeding cobs into the top and turning the crank with all of their might. As the freed kernels emerged from the rusted machine, delighted squeals arose from the crowd.

The students may never get another chance to take part in this slice of Johnson County’s agricultural heritage. But opening their eyes to it, and all aspects of local farming, is the whole idea behind the annual Ag Days event.

“All of us, whether you think about it or not, are tied to agriculture. If we like to eat, if we like to put our clothes on, if we like to drive a car to do fun things, all of our lives revolve around agriculture, and it’s important to have an understanding of what it is,” said Shalee Bradley, extension educator for agriculture and natural resources at Purdue Extension Johnson County, which puts on Ag Days.

More than 900 students from around Johnson County came to the fairgrounds on Tuesday and Thursday for Ag Days, an opportunity to learn all about the county’s agricultural background. They heard about the many uses for beef by-products, learned how to best grow juicy-sweet apples and see how drones are used to plant fields.

The kids got to sip fresh milkshakes and heard about how to raise everything from swine to cattle.

Moving from station to station, fourth-grade students from 13 different schools received a crash course on the importance of farming and what it has meant to Johnson County.

“I hope they’re inspired by what they see today, and it opens their eyes to what is going on in the agriculture industry, since it’s growing so much,” said Cazmin Tomamichel, a senior FFA student at Whiteland Community High School who helped with the event.

Ag Days is a longstanding tradition for Purdue Extension Johnson County. Working with local agriculture organizations, such as the Johnson County Farm Bureau and Johnson County Beef Cattle Association, as well as area farmers, the extension office puts together a program aimed at a wide variety of ag-related topics.

With Indiana building agriculture education into its fourth-grade standards, the daylong event was a perfect chance to gain a wide variety of insights at one time, Bradley said.

And providing the information is vital as fewer people are as connected to farming and the land as they used to be.

“The interesting thing about Johnson County is we’re pretty urban, but we’re also still very rural. A lot of these students will never be on a farm in their entire life, so this really provides an opportunity what agriculture is and why it’s important to preserve our farmland and know where our food comes from, so we can be good consumers,” Bradley said.

Ag Days is driven by volunteers from throughout the community, who share their expertise and experience about agriculture over the course of two days. More than 40 volunteers from throughout the community, as well as FFA advisors and 80 FFA members helped school students on a variety of topics.

Members of the Whiteland Community High School FFA had put together a presentation on zoonotic diseases and biosecurity — a major concern for modern farmers. They showed how easy it was to transfer bacteria or viruses using a stuffed sheep and a blacklight.

Tomamichel walked around having the students pet the stuffed animal, while fellow FFAer, sophomore Addison Corn, followed behind with a blacklight, revealing the powder that was unseen to the naked eye but still covered their hands.

“It’s important to teach kids about the diseases that go around with animals, especially if you’re working in the agriculture field. So we chose that topic and shared it with the kids,” Tomanickel said.

Nearby, Creek Cattle Company, Indian Creek FFA’s working beef farm, was teaching students all of the products we use that are made from beef by-products. The kids got to play bingo when their cards contained any of the multitude of products that FFA members presented.

One volunteer quizzed students on “friends” of the apple-growing process — sun, rain, honey bees — and enemies, such as frost and tornadoes.

Amy Kelsay, whose family owns Kelsay Farms in Whiteland, stood before rotations of students extolling the magic of dairy. Six generations of the Kelsay family have farmed their land, growing row crops and vegetables. Until recently, they had a working dairy farm.

Her display included charts explaining how milk gets from the cow to your table, the nutrients that can be found in milk and the products that are made from dairy items.

“Ag Days are important for our community because it allows the farming community to come together and promote the industry that we all love so dearly,” Kelsay said. “It is rewarding to teach young people about where their food comes from and help them gain a better understanding of an industry that affects each and every one of them on a daily basis.

“I enjoy being involved in Ag Days because agriculture is important to our family heritage and we are thankful for opportunities to share our story.”

Out in the animal barns, students got to see live cattle and swine and learn about their diets, their life cycles and how they are raised for food and other products. Kids lined up to learn about 4-H and how they can join it. Of course, the corn shelling stand was a big hit.

At the end of the day, all of the teachers of the students taking part in Ag Days got to take home a box of educational materials with puzzles, informational sheets about different species and crops, activities, teacher goodies and other things. That way, the educational experience carries on.

“It’s all focused around agriculture, whether that’s careers or production ag or animal science, fruit production, different types of products. We have a range of a whole lot of things,” Bradley said.