County Celebrates 40 Ag Days

Hamilton County just celebrated its 40th Ag Day with more than 2,000 second graders, parents, and teachers visiting the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds for an agriculture-focused field trip. 

Participants rotated through nine educational displays including agricultural products and live animals on March 17-19.  Displays included information on corn, soybeans, wheat, beekeeping, soil and water conservation, drones in agriculture and more.  Students learned about animal production and animal by-products while interacting with beef cattle, dairy cattle, goats, llamas, poultry, rabbits, sheep and swine.  More than 100 4-H youth and adult volunteers led the presentations and facilitated hands-on activities.
The Agriculture Council of America also hosted National Ag Day on March 24. This is a nationwide effort to tell the true story of American agriculture and remind citizens that agriculture is a part of all of us. Many agricultural associations, corporations, students and government organizations involved in agriculture will participate.
Educational programs like Ag Day help consumers understand how our food and fiber arrives at the grocery or clothing store and makes its way to dinner tables and closets across the country. We rely on agriculture for the very necessities of life. From beef and pork to cotton and corn, agriculture is working harder than ever to meet the needs of Americans and others around the world.  A single American farmer feeds more than 169 people. As the world population soars, there is an even greater demand for food and fiber produced in the United States.

“Since many Hamilton County residents are now three or more generations removed from the farm, Ag Day provides students with a close up, hands-on exposure to agriculture that they would not have otherwise had the opportunity to experience,” said Lisa Hanni, Program Assistant for Purdue Extension Hamilton County.  All of our amazing sponsors below allowed for Ag Day to be the success that it was.