The Minnesota Corn Growers Association visited with students and faculty during Ag Awareness Day 2015 at the University of Minnesota.

A little bad weather wasn’t going to slow down Ag Awareness Day 2015 at the University of Minnesota.

The Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA), together with about 15 other farmer-led organizations and agriculture-related groups, braved temperatures in the 30s, occasional snow showers and high winds to participate in Ag Awareness Day 2015 on the campus of the University of Minnesota on Tuesday.

Students on their way to and from class stopped by the MCGA booth to play a game of corn toss for a chance to win a fuel card from Holiday. They also had the opportunity to view a display highlighting everything produced from a bushel of corn (livestock feed, ethanol, distillers dried grains, corn oil, gluten feed, consumer products, etc.) and learn more about the many ways Minnesota’s corn farmers work to protect our land, water and soil resources.

MCGA answered all types of  questions from students and faculty at the event. Examples included:

• What’s the difference between the corn eaten by livestock and corn on the cob?
• Can ethanol run in classic cars?
• How popular is no-till?
• Is it better for cows to eat grass instead of corn?
• Are farmers planting yet?
• Why is it so cold? (we didn’t have a good answer for this one.)

The MCGA booth was located next to a booth staffed by Dr. Padmanaban Krishnan of South Dakota State University and one of his students. With support from MCGA, Krishnan is using distillers dried grains (DDG) — a high-protein by-product of the ethanol-making process most commonly used as livestock feed — in human foods like cookies, flatbreads and snack foods. You can learn more about Krishnan’s efforts here.

Krishnan game away 800 cookies that had 5 percent of the flour replaced with DDG at Ag Awareness Day. He also explained his research and his process to everyone visiting his booth.

Despite the cold, snow and wind, Ag Awareness Day 2015 was a success. It was a great opportunity to get a positive message about food and farming on an urban college campus. Here are some more photos from the day:

Petting the llamas was a big hit at Ag Awareness 2015.

Dr. Padmanaban Krishnan of South Dakota State University talks about his DDG cookies at Ag Awareness 2015.

MCGA Agvocate and University of Minnesota Student Maria Wingert (left) talking corn farming and ethanol at Ag Awareness 2015.

The MN Bison Association wasn’t far from MCGA’s booth at Ag Awareness 2015.