Minnesota Corn invests in agricultural communities
This spring, farmer-leaders approved the organization’s slate of 2026 education and public outreach investments
Each year, the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council (MCR&PC) invests corn checkoff funds in programs that bolster agricultural literacy, develop future ag leaders, strengthen community connections, and improve public trust in farming. The following is a summary of those investments in 2026.
Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom
Minnesota Corn has been a longtime supporter of Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC) as part of its mission to increase agricultural literacy in the state.
MAITC maintains a free database of standards-based ag lesson plans, book recommendations, activities, videos, resources, and more on its website. It also designs a twice-yearly, grade-specific magazine series for grades K-6 called “AgMag” that Minnesota teachers can order for no cost.
Other programs run by MATIC include its virtual field trip series, during which the organization’s staff live-stream tours of Minnesota farms. For example, on a chilly day this past January, MAITC staff held a virtual visit with Sara and Mark Hewitt, owners of Maple Wood Farms in Faribault. Standing in her sheep barn, with Mark holding the camera, Sara told students from across the state via Zoom how the farm raises corn, soybeans, beef cattle, sheep, flowers, pumpkins, flowers, and honeybees. She showed the students her pregnant ewes, highlighting the mix of corn and grain pellets that she feeds the sheep. “We wake up really early on the farm—around 5 a.m.—and we come out and feed the sheep,” she explained.
But that’s not all MAITC does. It also leads both virtual and in-person professional development workshops for teachers, including immersive conferences and teacher tours during the summer. MAITC also runs the Farm Camp Minnesota program, during which classes learn about various components of agriculture and visit working farms.
More information about MAITC can be found on its website, minnesota.agclassroom.org.
School assemblies— Twin Cities Road Crew
In 2026, Minnesota Corn once again contracted with the event marketing firm Twin Cities Road Crew to hold a series of corn-themed assemblies at schools around the Twin Cities. Through a series of 10 assemblies, students learned fun facts about corn and connected with the Minnesota Corn mascot, Maizey.
This summer, Twin Cities Road Crew will hold a series of corn-themed stage shows on behalf of Minnesota Corn at the State Fair. It will also hold a corn-themed activation at the West End Chalk Festival in St. Louis Park.
Minnesota Agriculture & Rural Leadership Program (MARL)
Minnesota Corn has been a supporter of MARL since the program’s inception in 2000. Since that time, over 350 farmers and agricultural and rural professionals have graduated from the program, learning foundational leadership and communications skills through seminars and agricultural site visits. Every two years, MARL selects a new cohort of participants for the program. In June, MARL Class 13 is set to have its graduation in Crookston. In August, Class 14 will begin its journey.
There are currently nine farmer-leaders at Minnesota Corn who have graduated from MARL. Additionally, three MARL graduates are currently serving in the State Legislature (Reps. Paul Torkelson, Nathan Nelson, and Keith Allen).
Farm at the Arb scavenger hunt
Since 2019, the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum has operated the Farm at the Arb, which includes a vintage barn, a bee and pollinator center, and crop demonstration plots with Minnesota crops like corn, soybeans, and sunflowers. Minnesota Corn was a proud sponsor of the exhibit and has been proud to sponsor programming at Farm at the Arb in recent years.
In 2026, Minnesota Corn is sponsoring a “Finding Goldy” scavenger hunt. In the spring, arboretum staff put a maroon and gold Goldy Gopher statue in the farm’s field corn plot. As the crop has grown early in the summer, Farm at the Arm visitors have been able to watch as Goldy disappears into the field.
Once the statue is hidden by the growing corn, visitors will be able to search through the field to find it. Those that do can win a prize if they take a picture with the statue in the field.
Farmamerica
Minnesota Corn has been a longtime partner of Waseca-based Farmamerica, which operates a historical demonstration farm, an agriculture discovery center, and a working crop farm, and a variety of community programs.
Last year, Minnesota Corn sponsored a new ethanol installation that tells the story of the biofuel from farm to vehicle in the discovery center. This year, Minnesota Corn is sponsoring a new virtual immersive ag career experience inside the discovery center. Essentially, Farmamerica is working with an outside company to design a mixed-reality game with various ag-related challenges that participants would have to complete.
Additional sponsorships
Minnesota Corn continues to sponsor Minnesota FFA and the University of Minnesota Extension 4-H Plant Science Program. Additionally, the organization continues to sponsor summer camp programing through the Bell Museum of Natural History & Planetarium and the Little Farm Hands exhibit at the State Fair.
