Mountain View Elementary School accessed a mobile ag lab
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A Pennsylvania producer is helping expose area students to agriculture.
Dave Graybill, a dairy farmer from Juniata County and director with the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, donated US$2,500 to the Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation’s Mobile Agriculture Education Science Lab program.
The donation benefitted students at Mountain View Elementary School in Mifflintown, Pa., by covering a one-week rental of a mobile agriculture classroom last week.
The 40-foot trailer contains 12 work stations and allows students to perform hands-on ag experiments.
Dave Graybill
Ag education does not receive as much attention in elementary school classrooms as subjects like spelling and English do. But exposing young minds to agriculture is important, Graybill saud.
“Our schools have lots of curriculum requirements, and agriculture tends to fall through the cracks,” he told Farms.com today. “Many kids, even those in rural communities, may not understand where their food comes from, that’s why this mobile ag lab is so important at giving them an introduction to the industry.”
Ag education is also important for the future of the industry.
Farm families account for about 2 percent of the U.S. population, the American Farm Bureau Federation says.
Students may grow up to be the next generation of farmers, but they will definitely be consumers. Understanding food production now can go a long way in the future, Graybill says.
“We’re helping them understand how their sugar beets or corn are grown, or how milk gets from my farm to the grocery store,” he said. “Their minds soak everything up during school, and we want them to have the knowledge to be able to make informed decisions when they grow up and buy their own food.”
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau photo