As a Teacher, you know the importance of educating your students. Thanks, in part to you, children and young adults are taught manners and socialization amongst many other skills. With the current pandemic many of us have become teachers. This is a powerful opportunity to incorporate agriculture in daily lessons and teach children how the industry is important to all of us. You can shape minds and influence kids to grow up and become knowledgeable and educated adults. So why should you include agriculture into your classroom?

Agriculture is one of the most influential industries in the world. Every country, human, and economy rely on agriculture. Regardless of whether you’re a vegan, prefer organic or conventional foods, your life is still heavily dependent on the farmers and ranchers around you for survival. As Teachers you may consider using agricultural-based topics in your curriculum to teach kids where their food comes from, what labels on food mean, how technological advances have increased and enhanced production, how by-products such as insulin and heart valves are provided for modern medicine and how educating yourself on controversial topics means more than googling an article written from a biased viewpoint to form an opinion on your food choices. There are so many ways you can develop an assignment or teaching moment through the lenses of agriculture.

Field Trips
Another way to include agriculture into your curriculum is a field trip. Obviously younger children should be exposed to something simple, like when I was small our school visited a cotton gin to learn the basics of cotton, and some schools even take kids to farms that have friendly animals to interact with (The local high school FFA advisor may be willing to allow your class to come tour the school farm). Older kids can be taken to the same places but with a little more complexity in the lesson. This is a great way to have a hands-on experience which is always more memorable and can inspire kids to learn more about ag.

Right now it’s difficult to find any place to go, however, there are multiple online ranch tours offered that can be just as fun. YouTube, Beef It’s What’s for Dinner, and your state farm bureau should have some on their websites. 

Let them join a club
FFA and 4H are both nationally recognized organizations that teach a wide range of skills. From livestock management to welding and plant judging, there are opportunities for every single kid. If they enjoy public speaking, archery or even training service dogs, there is a project for that in one of those organizations. This is a low commitment way for you to introduce your students to agriculture; let a participating student come in to speak to the class about what they offer or hang up flyers in class and make sure your student’s parents’ know the opportunities that lead to life-long friendships, real-life skills and even college scholarships.

For Debate:
You can help kids with their critical-thinking abilities by opening a discussion with your students. Let students discuss what they know, ask questions about what they don’t and give their opinions on what they think. The most important thing is to teach them the difference between fear mongering vs. the truth and how to handle a debate, against someone whose ideas are not the same, with maturity and intelligence. This can be useful later in life, if they decide to compete in Discussion Meet, or want to speak at city-council meetings on current issues.

For English classes:
Teaching your kids proper writing and grammar is crucial in today’s text-talk society. It is also a great way to encourage kids to write educated, well- researched papers on ag-related topics. Have them read parts of books such as “Food Inc” and debate the topics using credible pro- ag sources (FYI- books such as these are known to be biased and fear mongering, so it’s also a great way to teach them why their “campaign” shouldn’t be believed). 

For Spanish classes:
The importance of this language is underrated. It is well known that many farm laborers are of Hispanic descent and speak limited English if any. Remind your students the importance of learning to communicate with them by teaching agriculturally- related words. If any of them decide to accept agricultural jobs or internships later in life, this can give them a huge advantage over other candidates.

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For Politics or Government:
Immigration laws and how they would affect the industry are important to understand.  Water allocation and regulations on many different parts of the industry have made farming and ranching in California much harder. This could spread to other states, if it hasn’t already.  Teach them about researching what is going on, how to get more involved politically and what laws are trying to be passed in what states. Incorporating this into your curriculum will not only teach them the process, but also gives them a real-life example that might resonate with them.

For Geography:
Guess what was most shocking about moving from California to Alabama? The fact that hardly anyone knew about the huge, HUGE, ag industry there. Dive into geography more by teaching students what states/countries produce and what each one is most known for as far as crop/animal production and why their land is suitable for that type of agriculture. California shouldn’t be most famous for Hollywood when agriculture is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the state alone.

For Economics:
How is local economy influenced by agriculture? Students can research this and even do a presentation. Learning the markets for different commodities, and how each sector is connected, opens their eyes to how much their lives are affected by the industry. 

For Math:
Farmers rely on formulas to determine how much pesticide they should spray on a field; this is a very important factor because it is costly and illegal to spray incorrect amounts on crops. They also use math to determine grade and weight of seeds as well as budgeting and how to locate a specific area on a field. 

Even the smallest amount can inspire a student and, as an educator, that is your job and passion. More importantly, it opens their minds to independent thinking and decision making about agriculture. These are only a few ways you can incorporate agriculture into your curriculum, there is a lot more out there if you search! Some great resources include:

• Ag In the Classroom
• Your state farm bureau
• Your state cattlemen’s association

Let’s make agriculture a priority in schools and give kids the chance to learn the truth about the industry! You may be surprised at what your students will accomplish in the industry by being an advocate, and maybe you’ll even learn something yourself!