Farm day provides insight and fun

Published 2:59 pm Monday, April 24, 2017

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The Thorsby FFA hosted its fourth annual farm day on April 21 for Thorsby’s elementary students.

The goal of the day was to teach and inform the students about agriculture and the importance it plays in everyday life, while still having fun.

“We try to make it educational, because some of these kids have never seen a little lamb before” Thorsby agriculture teacher Brian Lucas said. “I don’t want it to just be a petting zoo.”

Thorsby’s FFA students ran the event and were providing the information at several of the stations throughout.

“I did my part and then I turned the rest over to them,” Lucas said. “They made the rest of it happen.”

Kids were shown items associated with horses, such as saddles and tools used with horseshoes and grooming. “Peaches” an appaloosa pony was on hand as part of the demonstration.

“They liked petting him [Peaches],” FFA student Brooke Lewellen said. “Anything hands on.”

There were many booths that involved interactive parts during the day to help spread the message.

Jason Brackner helped lead the dairy cow station that included a display that simulated the experience of milking a cow using corn starch and water in place of milk.

“Even adults really don’t know where our food comes from or the products that we get from these animals,” Lucas said. “Everybody knows steak and hamburger comes from cattle, but they don’t think about crayons, paint, asphalt binding on roads or the plastics in the dash of vehicles. Just off of bi-products, if we quit harvesting these animals, people’s lives would completely change.”

New vendors this year included the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association, as well as game wardens.