14 Apr 2014 Farm Round Up planned April 17
The Faulkner County Farm Round Up is an annual agriculture education event for second grade students in Faulkner County. The event is hosted by the Faulkner County Extension Service and sponsored by the Faulkner County Farm Bureau, Farm Credit Services, First Service Bank and multiple farm families.
Farm Round Up was created in 2005 to offer an agriculture educational event to schools to encourage children to know the sources of the food they eat, the clothes they wear and how agriculture impacts their everyday life. Agriculture is directly involved from the time they wake up in the morning and brush their teeth to every activity they do throughout the day until bedtime.
According to organizers, there is a lot of misinformation about agriculture in the media today which paints agriculture in a negative light. Urban life has many families now at least two generations removed from direct farm life. The Faulkner County Extension Service felt that is was important to give an unbiased look at agriculture in Faulkner County and its importance to families in a way that was hands on and practical.
The students reached have often never seen rice, corn, soybeans or cotton and have no idea what foods they eat contain these products. They don’t know that hamburger is not from a pig or that there are beef byproducts in toothpaste, facial creams and the tires put on cars.
The Farm Round Up has provided an opportunity to introduce agriculture to young students and hopefully to their families as well.
This year, for the first time, organizers are opening up the Farm Round Up to the public from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 17, at the riding arena at the Don Owen Sports Complex. This extended version of the Farm Round Up will provide local producers the opportunity to interact with community families through interactive educational exhibits, farmers market vendors and live animal exhibits.
For more information on the Faulkner County Farm Round Up, please contact the Faulkner County Extension Office at 501.329.8344 or [email protected].
