The 10th annual Chouteau County Ag Day took place last Thursday in Fort Benton. 4th and 5th grade students from all over the county were taken on a field trip to the Chouteau County fair grounds to participate in Agricultural themed eduction activities.
Connor Echols, a 4th grader at F.E. Miley Elementary School, described the activities for the day: “There’s like different rotations” where you go to different learning stations. The stations covered things like “sheep and wool or how to bake bread.” Connor explained that his favorite educational component for the day was “trying to rope barrels. Learning to swing the rope. We learned about horses and then they let us do rodeo stuff.”
F.E. Miley 5th grade teacher, Shelby Darlington, described the event: “It’s basically a day where the fourth and fifth graders get put into groups. They get to explore different things related to agriculture. They’ve made cheese before. They look at farm equipment. They look at the animals. So it’s just a fun day to explore different things.” She went on to explain that the day is meant to “both educate and get them interested in Ag. There’s usually a lot of kids that do 4H, so a lot of them already have some interest, but then it kind of furthers that.” In addition to it being an educational opportunity for the elementary school students, Shelby pointed out that Mr. Taylor, the Ag teacher at the high school, often brings older kids down to help facilitate the various eduction stations.
Mrs. Keller, who teaches 4th grade, explained her take on the importance of events like Ag day: “Since we live in an agricultural community, it’s always good for students to go to Ag Day and learn about agriculture. We have a lot of kids that come from farms and ranches, but we have many that don’t. In year’s past, we’ve learned about animals, honey, soil, wool, bread and where it comes from.” She went on to explain that the students really enjoy the annual ag education event.
At this year’s Ag day, students learned about soil types, pollination, horses, farm safety, and farm to table. The various sessions were taught by educators from “the Chouteau County and Big Sandy Conservation Districts, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Farmers Union, MSU Extension, Chouteau County 4-H, Big Sandy FFA, Fort Benton FFA, and Geraldine FFA.”
Beyond the particular topics of the educational stations, the larger objective of Ag Day is to help the students understand the larger importance of agriculture, particularly as the largest industry in Montana. The goal is to help young people “learn why agriculture is important to their health, home and community.” The news release for the event explained the concept and purpose further: “For thousands of years, civilization has been built upon the foundation laid by farmers and ranchers. Today’s American farmers produce an abundance of food and fiber, as well as flowers, fish, forest products, forage and fuel. Farmers and ranchers provide American consumers with products at prices among the lowest in the world. Many agricultural products are exported, helping feed people around the world. Farmers and ranchers are also stewards of the land. Agricultural producers promote clean water, improve wildlife habitat and promote soil health in an effort to sustain their farms and ranches for future generations.”
The County Ag day was made possible through
the donations and support of numerous groups within the community. The lunch that was served at the event was sponsored by the Farmers Union. The Chouteau County Fair Board donated the use of the fairgrounds for the event. Various other groups loaned equipment for the event this year and in years past, including: Joyce Fuel and Feed, Power Motors Implement, Torgerson’s of Great Falls, Frontline Ag of Great Falls, and Hoven Equipment.
