Pulaski County students enjoyed a return to an old favorite this week as Farm Bureau hosted Agriculture Day at the New River Valley Fairgrounds for Pulaski County fifth-grade students.
The event, which was an annual event that students looked forward to each year, hasn’t happened for the past three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of Ag Day is to allow fifth-grade students to learn about agriculture and careers in the industry, as well as how agriculture impacts their everyday lives.
Area 4-H agents are also heavily involved in the program, as they run the show and do all of the behind-the-scenes prep work to make the day a success. Virginia Cooperative Extension Agents Chris Lichty, Cynthia Hurst, and Morgan Paulette contacted local farmers, local agriculture industry leaders, and other agricultural leaders, with most of them being from Pulaski County, to set up stations for each of them to teach the students about different areas of interest in agriculture.
The stations covered a variety of topics, ranging from the food we eat, the clothes we wear, to where and what we live in. Students learned about what is on their plates and then the plants and animals that make up that food. The stations were designed to help students understand the connection between agriculture and how it impacts their everyday lives.
Another purpose of the stations was to teach students about career opportunities in the industry and allow students to meet some of the current leaders in each field.
Future Farmers of America (FFA) members from the high school were paired with the station leaders to assist with the event. FFA members were paired up with a station that they already had a familiarity with, allowing them to jump right in and help teach the lesson.
Other FFA students were assigned as guides to help move students from station to station. This allowed them the chance to learn new things right alongside the younger students.
The event included stations were students were able to learn about tractor safety, beef and dairy cattle, bees and honey production, goats, sheep, farm birds such as chicken and ducks, horses, and different plants and food grown on area farms.
To see more photos from Ag Day, visit our Facebook page under Pulaski County Public Schools.