PRINCETON, Ill. If it aint broke, dont fix it, the old saying goes.

Some might argue that change is good, but organizers of the Bureau County Ag Fair, now in its 23rd year, have stuck with what works to educate county fourth-grade students on farming and agriculture.

What were doing is a lot of demonstrations and hands-on stuff, and it seems like fourth-grade students are really into that, they are really interested, said Chuck Read, a Bureau County farmer who was volunteering at the station on corn.

Read has been volunteering at the fair for as long as the event, organized by the Bureau County Farm Bureau Womens Committee, has been presented.

It seems like its a wonderful age to teach them about agriculture, which is getting lost in our culture because there are fewer and fewer of us, he said.

375 Visitors

This year, 375 students from 20 fourth-grade classrooms across the county participated in the Ag Fair.

The presenters at the corn station took turns talking about different types of corn and their uses. They held up bags of corn chips, crayons, corn starch and other products made from corn byproducts.

Corn can be broken down into a lot of products in a couple different ways, the starch, the oil and the syrup. Corn syrup is used in a lot of products, the starches are used to thicken products and weve got corn oil, which is used as a cooking oil, Read said.

Its a combination of hands-on activities and connecting students to agricultural products they use and see every day that has stood the test of time.

There are a couple that play games, theres one station where they watch a video of pigs, theyre making butter at one station and they get their hand milked at the dairy station to see how that feels. They get to hold a chick, they get to pet a horse and a cow and a baby goat and a lamb. Theres always something we try to do thats interactive, said Jill Frueh, the Bureau County Farm Bureau manager.

The format features 13 stations, each on a different farm-related topic, from ag technology to embryology, to ag equipment and live animals and crop production. Presenters have seven minutes to talk to students, and then students have a minute to switch to the next station.

The fair is an effort of 75 volunteers long with agribusinesses and groups throughout the county.

Frueh said the length of the sessions holds students attention.

We thought about changing it and making the sessions longer because people say thats not very long, but the good thing is you have their attention. For seven minutes, you have their attention, Frueh said.

Ags Story

For Rob Sharkey, who farms near Bradford, talking to students about the crops they see, but may not know about, is important.

Im really glad they have a station on corn and one on soybeans because those are probably the most interaction a lot of these kids will have with agriculture in this area. They need to know what that is. They need to know what a GMO is, he said.

The event has become a generational event for both the students attending and the presenters.

Sharkey started presenting on embryology, using live baby chicks to talk about eggs and egg products, when William Sharkey was doing an embryology project for 4-H.

William, now a senior, will graduate in May and attend Northern Ohio University. His younger sister, Anita, and younger brother, Eian, are on deck to take over the presentation.

I havent done much here. I did the first one, and the kids said weve got it from here, Rob Sharkey said.

Fruehs husband, Jared, and daughter, Payton, also volunteer. Payton, 8, was a volunteer presenter with her moms horse, Lilly, at the equine station, and Jared is a volunteer presenter at the pork station. Son Parker wasnt at the fair, but Frueh said he likely will be in a few years.

For Frueh, seeing students who went through the program as fourth-graders return as presenters is satisfying.

The last couple of years, weve incorporated 4-H and FFA members to come and teach because kids learn better from other kids, I think. Weve done that for so long now that students who went through the Ag Fair as fourth-graders are able to volunteer and teach the kids who are coming through now, she said.

Read more:
Bureau County Ag Fair marks 23 years - Agri News