Extension takes ag education to schools

Agriculture is all around us. It is part of the food we eat, the beverages we drink, the clothes we wear and many of the products we use everyday. It's such a part of our world that sometimes it is easy to forget how much goes into the production of things like our string cheese, pork rinds or wool socks.

That is exactly why seven years ago Eddy County NDSU Extension developed "Ag in the Classroom." The program extends to four schools in three counties (Eddy, Foster and Wells) and has since moved out of the classroom and into the gym to accommodate the space needed to deliver this amount of information.

It is estimated that each year, Extension reaches 500 students in grades 3-6 with this program. Extension Agent Tim Becker says, "so many kids don't know agriculture is our main source of food. Through Ag in the Classroom, extension presents agriculture as our main food source."

On Friday, April 26, Extension presented at NR-S. This is Chandy Howard's first year presenting to dozens of students. "My first time presenting this program was in Fessenden, so I've had a little practice. I'm getting better at timing my presentation to be 8-9 minutes," she said.

The idea is to have four stations which students visit in groups for 10 minutes, essentially totaling 40 minutes- the timing of a class period. The content for the program is on a four year rotation so that students get a variety of content from year to year. Topics include beef, grains, and oil seeds. This year's topic focused on dairy and other products from livestock. It was a priority among the Extension staff to talk about good practices in raising livestock. "We not only teach them about livestock and stewardship, but we discuss livestock as a resource for food and many other products," says nutrition specialist Donna Anderson.

Anderson's presentation covered dairy products and their role in providing calcium. She says, "The amount of calcium that children need is really important in preventing diseases later in life like osteoporosis. This is prime time during their rapid growth for kids to bank calcium and vitamin D." Students also learned to read food labels to make good choices. Many were surprised to find that some yogurts have more sugar than an Klondike ice cream bar.

The topic of dairy continued to Howard's station, where she spoke about dairy production. She covered the various breeds of cows and how some are more suited to producing milk for commercial production. This was also the station where students had the opportunity to sample five cheeses (Cheddar, Mozzarella, Colby, Swiss, and Gouda). They guessed the type of each and rank their favorite. The results? Gouda was the top ranking favorite, while Swiss was the least favorite.

Becker's presentation focused on raising sheep, particularly for wool. He explained the process for shearing and had spun wool yarn for students to feel. Did you know that crimp, lanolin, hand lotions, meat and tennis ball wool all come from sheep?

Lindsay Maddock of Wells County Extension provided students with a primer on pork, especially the cuts of meat. Thanks to the diagrams, students had a chance to see that cuts like a butt roast don't come from the hind quarter as its name suggests, but instead the shoulder, and that bacon actually comes from the belly of a pig. She also talked about pork based byproducts such as pork rinds, insulin, personal care products, and even sutures.

Eddy County Extension Service gives local residents easy access to the resources and expertise of North Dakota State University. Through educational programs, publications, and events, extension agents deliver unbiased, research-based information to Eddy County citizens. To contact Eddy County Extension stop in at 205 3rd St SE in New Rockford or call (701) 947-2454.