The Ag Day Fair doesn’t just benefit the exhibitors though. It teaches the youth of the county lessons about the bustling agriculture industry that surrounds them every day and has a massive influence on their daily lives, whether they are aware of it or not.
“Ag Day allows the experts to get that information to the students and allows the students to learn about the products they use, the people they see, how it related to agriculture in Decatur County and to appreciate the impact it has on their lives,” Reding said. “These are local people teaching our local students. That has value and separates Ag Day from many of the other field trips they take.”
Many of the stations taught lessons about specific animals, such as emus, goats or sheep. At some stations, the students were even able to hold or pet the object of their instruction. The baby chick exhibit seemed to be very popular amongst the fourth graders, as were the rabbits and the three-day-old piglets, which each group was given the chance to nickname. Some students timidly approached a show cow to pet it at the beef production station, while others showed no hesitation and greeted the animal with a smile.
Among the many lessons students learned throughout the day were: how long you can safely drink milk after the expiration date (10 days); how much a cow eats per day (25 pounds); the many uses for emu oil; how much a newborn piglet weighs (two pounds); what an automatic defibrillator does and the fact that when a honeybee stings, it gives off a “sting here” pheromone that attracts the rest of the swarm.
The annual Ag Day Fair is coordinated by Decatur County’s Farm Bureau Insurance Inc., as a way to give students an opportunity to learn about the agricultural industry and its importance from those who know it best, the experts of Decatur County. Some experts represented individual farms, such as the owners of Armand’s Harper Valley Farms and some were students representing the knowledge they’ve gained as members of 4H and the FFA, such as Tori Weber, who taught a lesson on hydroponics.