Jefferson County students learn about agriculture at Farm Day

By Teresa Stowell of the Daily Times staff
Thursday, May 8, 2008 12:38 PM CDT

JEFFERSON - Squeals came from students and animals Wednesday afternoon as fourth-graders from throughout Jeffer-son County gathered at the fair park to learn more about farm-related topics at the 15th annual Jefferson County Farm Day.

Students listened intently as Jefferson High School FFA members talked about pigs, cows, sheep and other animals on display at the event set up in pens in different stations around the fairgrounds.

Jefferson High School FFA member Matt Heine described the parts of a pig while holding on to one and letting students pet it. The FFA members explained how FFA and 4-H members often show pigs at the county fair. He described the type of food pigs eat and other work it takes to raise a pig as a fair project.

A Holstein steer named “Stuck” stood quietly as students gathered around to learn about the animal. Stuck is owned by Zack Becker, Jefferson High School FFA member, who will show the steer at the county fair this summer.

“Stuck's mother died when he was born so we raised him by hand,” Becker said. “It's a lot of work preparing an animal for the fair.”

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Becker explained what Stuck is fed and how he takes care of him. He also explained to students the different cuts of meat that come from steers and cows.

Tina Marshall, of Jefferson, held on to Gabby, a Rhode Island Red chicken, Wednesday afternoon as students gathered around to pet it. Students had the opportunity to see eggs that Gabby and a few other chickens at the event laid earlier in the day.

The fourth-graders learned about different breeds of chickens and the food they eat.

A total of 650 fourth-graders from 16 Jefferson County schools participated in the Farm Day. Teachers from St. Paul's Lutheran School in Ixonia; East and West Elementary, St. John's the Baptist Catholic School and St. John's Lutheran School, all in Jefferson; Barrie, Luther, Purdy, Rockwell, St. Joseph's Catholic, and St. Paul's Lutheran schools in Fort Atkinson; Prospect Elementary and St. Paul's Lutheran schools in Lake Mills; and Schurz, Webster and St. John's Lutheran schools in Watertown used this opportunity to enhance the curriculum on Wisconsin agriculture in their fourth-grade classes.

The farm-related topics of swine, beef, dairy and sheep production, calf management, equipment and milk handling in the milk house, soil conservation, crop production and the food pyramid were discussed and illustrated.

“The purpose of the farm day is to offer an educational experience to fourth-graders on the importance of agriculture in Wisconsin, increase awareness of career opportunities in agriculture and the influence of agriculture on their daily lives,” Walt Coussens, event organizer, said.

Several area agricultural or-ganizations and businesses cooperate in this educational endeavor by setting up demonstrations, leading discussions at the learning stations and assisting in coordination of the day's activities.

Those volunteers include members of the Jefferson County Farm Bureau who prepared and served lunches to students, chaperones and volunteers; members and instructors of the Jefferson FFA who provided animals, tour leaders and presentations at several stations; members of the Jefferson County Agribusiness Club; and representatives from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, UW Extension, Frontier FS Coopera-tive and Bank of Deerfield. Other contributions included Randy Schopen of Capn's Catering, Waste Management Services of Johnson Creek, Jefferson County Animal Agricultural Alliance and the Jefferson County Fair Park.