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Program brings farm life to the classroom

T-R PHOTO BY MIKE BURVEE Fourth graders from Woodbury Elementary learn about how agriculture is found in everyday products like deodorant. In addition to the students, “Farmer Jim” Moser was present for the FarmChat event at Riverview Park on Thursday.

Many students in Marshalltown may never choose to work with cattle, till a field, or any other ordinary tasks on the farm. Students at Woodbury Elementary have been taught those things and more, without stepping foot on a farm.

By way of Skype, the fourth-grade class has been able to communicate and observe “Farmer Jim” Moser at work. Budget constraints and liability issues limit the school to how many field trips they can take and where they go. This allowed for a different aspect of learning about a non-traditional topic, something they looked forward to.

This year the Marshall County Farm Bureau took lead in the project with ways to improve the experience. Angie Nelson, regional manager, was sent out to Moser’s farm to record what he did and wanted to teach the kids. She then would compile those into 18-20 minute videos which would be shown in class each month. From there the process remained the same by Skyping at the end of the day to allow questions from the students.

Two events highlight the program in Farm to Table and FarmChat, which takes place over the entire school year.

The first takes place in September, with a much larger group of about 400 kids, it details what will be talked about throughout the year. Some topics include harvest, beef cattle feeding, Blood Family Dairy among others. Moser is also present to answer questions and meet the group.

This coming fall will mark the 17th consecutive year Farm to Table has been organized.

“Farm Bureau has done an outstanding job of picking this program up,” Moser said. “It takes a willing administration co-operating with the farm organization to make this happen, Jean Klosterman and Angie Nelson have done a great job.”

The second event took place Thursday, titled FarmChat. A much smaller group of about 50 went through different stations to learn about various parts of agricultural production. One station talked about sheep and beef production, another talked about how agriculture can be found in everyday products.

“We also tie what we teach into the STEM program,” Klosterman said. “Students don’t just watch ‘Farmer Jim’ on screen, they put what they learn into action through homework assignments.”

The goal of this is to show them that what they learn like math and science, is used everyday by farmers.

After each part of the program is completed, Klosterman and the Bureau, along with Moser, often receive artwork, pictures or thank you’s from the students.

“The thank you’s are phenomenal,” Moser said.

This year FarmChat also added a tractor cab simulator. Limited to tilling a plot of land, kids could drive at their speed of choice in a real tractor cab.

“A lot of them went as fast as they could and crashed it into the fence,” said Carson Birchland, a 4-H volunteer.

The simulator was Nelson’s brain child and had been in the process for three years before today. A broken cab was found in a junkyard near Mingo, which was then fixed up and outfitted for comfort and safety.

The next step was to buy a trailer to haul it in, which also was outfitted on the interior and decals designed for the exterior. The final step was incorporating the simulation software, which the Bureau bought from an organization in Minnesota for several thousand dollars.

“It’s cool because it gives them a chance to do something they may not have a chance to do in their life,” Birchland said. “It’s also realistic, so they can tell people they got to drive a tractor.”

Not only do the students enjoy everything the program has to offer, teachers love it too.

“Every year this gets a little bit better,” said Woodbury teacher Jim Lankelma. “We used to come down here at the end of every school year and do other activities, this is better with all the learning going on as well.”

The final activity of the day was lunch, grilled burgers courtesy of the Marshall County Cattlemen.

Moser addressed the students one final time before sitting down to eat.

“What we want you to take home and tell your family is the food we produce is good for you, tastes good, is healthy and safe to eat,” he said. “I’m grateful you’re all here today and I had a lot of fun. We’re here because of you, so thank you.”

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