A Conference That Gets Teachers Out To The Farm
Written By Jonathan Eisenthal
National Agriculture In The Classroom’s annual conference lands in Minneapolis June 23-26, and it will bring nearly 600 teachers from across the nation, eager to incorporate lessons that present contemporary agriculture while achieving curriculum goals in STEM, social sciences and language arts classes at the primary and secondary level.
The conference includes workshops, keynote speeches, an exhibit hall and more. But one of the things that sets this conference apart are its traveling workshops. Nearly all the conference goers will attend sessions that take them out to working farms, and other segments of agriculture and food industries.
Keri Sidle and Sue Knott, the education specialists who make Minnesota Agriculture in The Classroom go, are rolling out one of the ‘greatest hits’ of their summer teacher tour program, “Corn, from Field To Glass,” for the enjoyment and edification of 54 teachers attending the conference.
This program brings the group to the corn and soybean farm of Brian Thalmann in Plato, Minnesota, about 50 miles west of Minneapolis. After an up-close experience with mid-season crops and farm equipment like planters and combines, the group will travel to the J. Carver Distillery in Waconia, to sample bourbon made from locally sourced corn.
This is one of 12 traveling workshops Sidle and Knott have organized, to accommodate about 500 teachers.
“When it comes to agriculture in Minnesota, there’s so much to see!” Sidle says with enthusiasm. “This is our chance to showcase our state’s contribution. We rank 6th in the nation for total agricultural production, 5th for crop production, and 8th for livestock production. The state’s agricultural businesses make over $26 billion in agricultural sales every year.”
Another workshop will focus on the unique business structure called the cooperative, and its role in the farm and food sectors. Participants will tour the grain-handling facility at the CHS port in Savage, located on the Minnesota River. They will also visit one of the oldest food cooperatives in the Twin Cities, Seward Community Coop. One of the largest businesses in Minnesota, CHS, and one of its most local, Seward Coop, demonstrate the flexibility and utility of the cooperative structure—simply put, a cooperative is a business that is owned and governed by its members, who are often consumers of the products and services of the business.
Minnesota Corn is a longtime sponsor of Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom as part of its mission to increase public awareness about agriculture’s importance to the state. Learn more about the organization at minnesota.agclassroom.org.
