Marshall Co. Students Get Hands-On Experience With Agriculture
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MOUNDSVILLE — Marshall County’s fifth graders got the chance to learn about where their food comes from and visit with farm animals during the Hands On Agriculture Day at the Marshall County Fairgrounds on Friday.
Katie Fitzsimmons, district conservationist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service-United States Department of Agriculture, said the 16th annual event was open to all fifth graders in the county, including those who attend Marshall County Schools and private schools.
During the day the students rotated through 11 different stations that taught them about different aspects of agriculture including locally grown foods, 4-H and FFA, pollinators, wildlife animal tracks, forestry products, horses, dairy and buttermaking, goats, soil types, chickens and beef cattle.
“It’s important for kids to learn where their food comes from,” Fitzsimmons said. “A lot of times they think that whenever I go to the grocery store, that’s where my hamburger comes from, that’s where I’m getting my milk. That’s where everything is perceived to come from. But they need to understand that a lot of what they’re eating is coming off of a small family farm.”
Fitzsimmons noted most of the presenters are farmers from Marshall County.
“They’re raising meat that people are eating and vegetables people are getting,” she said.
For example, Eric Blend of the Blended Homestead raises chickens for people to buy and roast. And Dave McCardle of Black Acres Angus raises beef cattle.
Fitzsimmons said she hopes the students not only learn about agriculture and farming, but are also inspired by it.
“If we have kid that comes to Hands On Ag Day and is not familiar with agriculture, but when they leave here they decide, ‘When I grow up I want to be a farmer’ or ‘I want to work in forestry’ or even just working for something like the department of agriculture, it is important. Because as we grow older and we retire, there has to be another generation coming in and I hope they have the love of agriculture that I have,” she said.
Fitzsimmons said in the Northern Panhandle, Marshall County has the most agricultural producers.
Ag Day organizers included JMHS FFA, the Northern Panhandle Conservation District, West Virginia Department of Agriculture, USDA Farm Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation District and West Virginia Conservation Agency. Donors to make Ad Day happen included the Marshall County Commission, Marshall County Co-Op, Marshall County Fairgrounds, Marshall County Schools, Northern Panhandle Conservation District, Northern Panhandle RC&D and West Virginia Department of Agriculture.