April 26, 2019

Connecting kids with ag

Topic: Education

By Delmar Ficek, Stark County Farm Bureau volunteer

Everyone assumes, being an agricultural state, that there is no need to explain or promote farming and ranching in North Dakota. Nothing can be further from the truth.

When I was an eighth-grade student, we were taught agriculture from a 500-page textbook entitled The Handbook of Agriculture. We learned about different breeds of cows, horses, hogs, sheep; different crops that were raised; different soil types. Now, students may know the difference between a cow and a horse, but few have ever known or met a farmer.

Stark County Farm Bureau (SCFB) is trying to change that. For the last 30 years, we have had an essay contest open to sixth-graders. The essay, entitled How Agriculture Affects My Life, has proven a great success.

Read what new activity the county is trying on the My NDFB Life blog.