An education campaign is looking to connect Saskatchewan kids with agriculture.
The Acres for Education campaign, through Agriculture in the Classroom Saskatchewan, is trying to ignite an interest in the agriculture industry and make students between grades 5 and 8 care about the food system, with students getting to walk through the Rayner Dairy Research and Teaching Facility in Saskatoon on Wednesday.
“Students today will soon graduate and begin making decisions related to their career pathway,” says Sara Shymko, executive director of AITC-SK. “It is crucial that they have agricultural touchpoints throughout their education journey, to inspire understanding of our food system and support for our producers.”
The campaign is also looking to challenge farmers to donate 10 cents for every acre of land they farm to agriculture education.
“There is a lot of talk about the looming labour crisis in agriculture, and now we need action. We can’t leave it up to others to solve this problem. As producers, we need to get involved in finding solutions,” says Kristjan Hebert, president of the Hebert Group.
“One way we can do that is to donate monetarily, but just as important is connecting with your local schools so kids can visit your farm and have memorable experiences that may impact future career choices.”
Acres for Education has a donation goal of $250,000, equal to 2.5 million acres of farmland.
The organization said $150,000 allows them to maintain their current teacher demand, with $250,000 allowing them to impact more student education and connect more kids to agriculture.
Shymko said they had kids from six schools at Wednesday’s event, rotating through stations and getting to see what goes on at a dairy farm and what careers are available through agriculture, as well as stations focused on food security.
She said this is one of the many outreach programs that they offer in the province.
“Agriculture is deeply connected to almost every issue that’s out there in the world today with respect to climate change, food security and so many more issues.”
She said this will give students a better appreciation for agriculture.
Aiden Moosomin, one of the students at the event, said he enjoyed the card game at the event, but was excited to see the cows at the research facility.
“I’ve never seen a real-life cow,” Aiden said.
Ryan Basnet, another student, also enjoyed the games at the event, comparing one to Monopoly.
He said he was also excited to see the cows.
“We’re going to learn about the milking system,” Ryan said.
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