Students in Carla Wood’s sixth grade class at the Perry Middle School braved Tuesday’s cold wind in order to receive some hands-on farm experience in the Agriculture in the Classroom program, sponsored by the Dallas County Farm Bureau.
Wood planned the afternoon event with help from Dallas County Ag in the Classroom Coordinator Jamie Champion and Dallas County Farm Bureau Office Manager Janet Hick, with Perry Middle School Principal Ned Menke providing input as well.
Students began the event with an in-person address from Iowa Department Agriculture and Land Stewardship Deputy Secretary Julie Kenny, who said land stewardship means protecting and conserving Iowa’s soil, water and air for future farmers. Kenny described the importance of agriculture to the Iowa economy, where one in five Iowa jobs is ag-related.
The students also heard from Jason Kruger, a PHS graduate who now works as an engineer at John Deere.
Among the Ag in the Classroom stations was an Iowa Corn Growers trailer, which explained the chief uses of corn as a gasoline addictive and livestock feed. A $400,000 tractor was also on display in the schoolyard, courtesy of Van Wall Equipment.
Pet-worthy horses, goats, chickens and geese were brought to the Ag in the Classroom event by Carol Jackson-Cavanaugh, Dirk Cavanaugh and Matt Cavanaugh of Perry. The two- and four-footers are a perennial hit with the sixth graders.
Wood thanked Deputy Secretary Kenny for attending as well as Dallas County Farm Bureau’s Janet Hick for helping coordinate the event and Steve Hick for arranging for the tractors and other equipment to show to the students.
