VALDOSTA — Pine Grove Elementary School fifth graders got a taste of farm life Thursday morning.
Stalvey Farm hosted the students and educated them about agriculture through the 10th Annual Exploring Agriculture exhibit.
Six stations were set up for the students to learn about dairy cows, beef cattle, Future Farmers of America, forestry and land conservation.
As a teacher, Missy Eason would have her brother Tommy Stalvey come to her class to talk about agriculture.
They both decided that the educational experience would be more effective if the students were brought out to the farm.
Thus, Exploring Agriculture was born.
Representatives from the University of Georgia, Fort Valley State University, Lowndes High FFA, Georgia Forestry Commission and Lowndes County Young Farmers Association were on hand to talk to the students.
Jerome Tucker said brining the kids out to a working farm or ranch exposes them to academics they are learning in the classroom that are being put to use.
“Hopefully the kids learn something that they can take back to the classroom,” Tucker said.
Science and math are just a few of the concepts that students can relate while learning about where some of their favorite foods come from.
At a station provided by the University of Georgia and the Dairy Farmer Families of Georgia, students learned how Molly the dairy cow produces milk. They also got a firsthand look at Molly being milked.
At one station, students watched as a cow was graded for meat through an ultrasound machine.
As someone who grew up in a rural area, Tucker said he has just begun to realize how much of the values and experiences he took for granted are things that many children today are missing out on.
Stalvey said the impact the experience can make on a child is worth the effort that goes into setting up the event.
As the process of how a cow is milked was shown, several squeals of “gross” and “eww” could be heard from the students.
But the students learned that a dairy cow is usually milked twice a day and produces up to six gallons of milk a day.
Hahira Middle School students Ian and Sam Bennett showed the students their prize winning milking ewes and how they are judged during competition.
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Related Photos
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Pine Grove Elementary School students Montana Lewis, left, and Keyonn Robinson check out the suction created by a milking machine during a presentation on milk by Nicole Roberts, right, at the 10th Annual Exploring Agriculture exhibit held on Stalvey Farm in Lowndes County Thursday.
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Pine Grove Elementary School students reach out and touch the ribs of a heifer during a demonstration by retired University of Florida animal science professor Roger West. West did a presentation on how beef is graded by the use of an ultrasound machine at the 10th Annual Exploring Agriculture exhibit at Stalvey Farm Thursday.
Discussion
Life on the farm
Students get taste of farm life at annual event
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