Reserve Your Teach Ky Ag License Plate Today!

So do we really need another specialty license plate in Kentucky? The choice of causes you can support by registering your vehicle in the commonwealth are endless, but we are going to throw in one more for you to consider, the #TeachKYAg Tag. Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom was recently approved to presell a plate with the goal of establishing a long-term, financial support system for agriculture education programs.  

While the Farm Tag program already provides a means for funding 4-H, FFA, and Kentucky Proud, the Teach Ky Ag Tag will be a registration option for vehicles that do not qualify for Farm Tags. Assuming we make our minimum number of reservations, and I know we will, every vehicle in your household or business can finally support agriculture education.

Once the plates are manufactured and we receive the $10 donation from each license plate and renewal, the KyAEC board will dedicate funds for agriculture literacy programs such as in-classroom curriculum, professional development and resources for teachers and volunteer educators, and educational events targeting school-age children. We have also committed to provide grants to Kentucky FFA, 4-H, schools, and agritourism venues to carry out their programming aimed at educating the non-farming community.

This is such an exciting time for our organization and the number of students and teachers we are able to reach continues to grow. In the past seven months, we have provided the Agriculture Adventures program to 11,000 students. We also recently purchased a third Mobile Science Activity Trailer so the Kentucky Department of Agriculture can teach agri-science activities to an additional 8,000 to 10,000 students each year. A new agriculture resource website and literacy tools are in the works, which should reach more than a 100 thousand students in the next two years. But despite the wonderful support of the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, our agricultural organizations and businesses, our only limiting factor is funding.

So, yes, Kentucky needs one more specialty license plate to teach the next generation of informed consumers. It is also our goal to encourage more students to consider careers in agriculture. Teaching Kentucky agriculture feeds our future in more ways than one.

We need to reserve 900 plates before the DMV will manufacture the plates. The fee is $25 and will be held until the 900 plate minimum is reached. Once the plates are ready, your county clerk's office will send you a postcard and $25 credit for your plate; an additional $19 will be collected at pick-up ($44 total). The renewal cost will be $31 annually (birth month). $10 from each purchase and renewal will be directed to KyAEC with your approval. Personalization requests may only be made at the county clerk's office after the minimum number of plates have been reserved.

If you are interested in reserving a plate, please visit https://www.teachkyag.org/license-plate.html. We also encourage you to take a look at our many other programs and get involved!

I also talked with Mike Feldhaus for the Kentucky Farm Bureau Across Kentucky radio program about the plates and how the funding will be used. Take a listen:

KyAEC Plans Agriculture Literacy Network Workshop - February 5, 2016

The Agriculture Literacy Network was formed to provide training, services and resources to those who currently or are interested in educating students and the public on agricultural topics.

Supporters of the Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom realized that non-traditional educators may be our greatest resource in providing agricultural literacy programs to our students and the general public through classroom visits, farm tours, festivals, fairs, and interacting with the public.

Membership in the Agriculture Literacy Network is $50 annually, and includes registration for state-wide ALN Workshop, Friday, February 5, in Bowling Green. Sessions include learning how to use available resources from KyAEC and supporting organizations, connecting with teachers and providing what they need, organizing a successful ag day event, encouraging schools to visit your farm, and more.

To learn more about the Agriculture Literacy Network and Workshop, visit https://www.teachkyag.org/agriculture-literacy-network-of-kentucky.html. Registration deadline is January 27.

 

Primary sponsors of the Agriculture Literacy Network are Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund and Farm Credit Mid-America. Additional support is provided by Kentucky Pork Producers, Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board, Agri-Business Association of Kentucky, Kentucky Corn, Kentucky Small Grain Growers Association, Kentucky Livestock Coalition, Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association, Kentucky Association of Conservation Districts, Southeast United Dairy Industry Association, and the Kentucky Dairy Development Council.

Kentucky Ag Literacy Partners Cut Ribbon on Third Mobile Science Activity Center

Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and Kentucky's agricultural literacy partners cut the ribbon to ceremonially launch the new Eastern Kentucky Mobile Science Activity Center that will travel to schools and events throughout the region. 

“The new Mobile Science Activity Center is designed to negotiate some of the challenging terrain that can be found in parts of eastern Kentucky,” Commissioner Comer said during the November 13 ceremony at the Kentucky Exposition Center. “This unit will enable us to reach more schools in the region so we can help educators teach their students about the importance of agriculture in their everyday lives.”

The Eastern Kentucky Mobile Science Activity Center is a 36-foot-long trailer equipped with 10 iPad interactive workstations for students to conduct activities and investigations related to agriculture and the environment. It will be placed into service after the first of the year.

The new unit will join two 44-foot-long Mobile Science Activity Centers that travel to schools and events throughout the Commonwealth. The mobile units are administered by the Division of Agriculture Education and Outreach in the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Office of Marketing.

The Eastern Kentucky unit is part of the Appalachia Proud initiative that Commissioner Comer launched in February 2014 to promote farm products and improve agricultural literacy in 37 eastern Kentucky counties.

The new MSAC was purchased and outfitted with support from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund and Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom Inc.’s member partners: the Kentucky Pork Producers, the AgriBusiness Association of Kentucky, Farm Credit Mid-America, the Kentucky Beef Council, the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association, the Kentucky Corn Growers Association, the Kentucky Dairy Development Council, the Kentucky Equine Education Project, Kentucky Farm Bureau, the Kentucky Goat Producers Association, the Kentucky Horse Council, the Kentucky Pork Producers Association, the Kentucky Poultry Federation, the Kentucky Retail Federation, the Kentucky Small Grain Growers' Association, the Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board, and the Kentucky Veterinary Medical Association.

KyAEC Reaches 3,500 Youth and Adults with Ag Literacy Programs at the Kentucky State Fair

Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom was able to reach an estimated 3,500 youth and adults with their agriculture literacy programs at the Kentucky State Fair, August 20-30, 2015.

"The Kentucky State Fair is the perfect venue to reach a large number of Kentucky's citizens about how agriculture impacts our daily lives," said Jennifer Elwell, KyAEC executive director. "While many agriculture education efforts are underway during the fair, we wanted to add our programs to the mix in order to introduce our organization as a primary coordinator of agriculture literacy efforts for schools and youth programs."

Through a partnership with the Kentucky State Fair Board, KyAEC provided its Agriculture Adventures program on the Kids Biz stage twice a day during the run of the fair. Agriculture Adventures is a 30-minute show that tells how a pizza is made with the help of Kentucky's farmers.

KyAEC and its member volunteers also provided agricultural learning activities to visitors at the KSFB's Children's Coloring Mural. The activities are part of the Agriculture on the Move program, which provides hand-on agriculture lessons to members of the Agriculture Literacy Network.

KyAEC introduced it's latest Kentucky-specific agriculture resource as well, the Kentucky Agriculture A to Z Coloring Book.

"There are so many wonderful agriculture literacy resources and lessons from the nation's agricultural organizations, but we also want to provide learning that provided specific information about Kentucky farms, food and agribusiness," said Elwell. "This coloring book provides a snapshot of how Kentucky agriculture works to provide us food, jobs, and natural resources."

The coloring book was produced with a matching Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund investment and will be sold to further support agricultural literacy efforts in the commonwealth.

KyAEC would like to provide a special thank you to its many Kentucky State Fair volunteers: Kentucky Poultry Federation, Cal-Main Foods, Pilgrim's Pride, and Perdue.

For more information about Kentucky's agricultural literacy programs, visit www.teachkyag.org.

CHS Grants for K-12 Teachers Available - $1,500 Awarded for Use of Ag-Based Lessons

CHS is providing five Classroom Grants through the National Agriculture in the Classroom. The $1,500 grants will be awarded to kindergarten through 12th grade core education teachers whose innovative classroom projects use agricultural concepts to teach reading, writing, math, nutrition, science and/or social studies. The deadline for grant proposals is September 15, 2015. Recipients will be notified by email on or before October 1, 2015.   

The CHS Classroom Grant Program is designed to fund projects that will educate K-12 students about the importance of agriculture and allow teachers to use agricultural concepts to teach core subject areas. Those who receive one of the five grants will be required to use at least two lesson plans from the National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix or two lesson plans from a state Agriculture in the Classroom program.

In addition, grant proposals must demonstrate how local farmers, ranchers or agriculture industry representatives will be involved in the project. 

Grant reviewers will use this CHS Grant Rubric. 

CHS will highlight the winning classroom grants at its annual meeting in December 2016.

Timeline:
Grant proposals must be submitted online by midnight (PST) September 15, 2015.
Awards will be announced via email October 1, 2015
A final report due to the National Agriculture in the Classroom Organization by June 1, 2016.

For more information, visit http://www.agclassroom.org/get/chs_grant.cfm. 

Owensboro Farmer Provides Home-Grown Education for Community Kids

Suzanne Cecil White, a produce farmer in Owensboro, knows the value of education and learning by doing. She is also a strong advocate of healthy eating and providing her community a personal connection to her farm. By adding these passions together, this former high school math teacher has a formula for success.

Two years ago, Suzanne wanted to create a program that allowed kids to get their hands dirty and understand how fruits and vegetables are produced locally. Once a week for six weeks, she hosted a "Farm Camp" for kids ages 7-10. The kids were able to plant and harvest their own vegetables while learning about farming along the way. They also visited other farms in the area to learn about livestock and different farm enterprises. The camp was a huge success, and several parents asked if it would be offered again.

The produce season of 2014 came with a new addition to her family, but she knew she wanted to continue providing educational programs through her farm.

Earlier this year, she connected with a local Boys and Girls Club (Cliff Hagan Boys and Girls Club) through her involvement in area leadership organizations. The club was offering a locally-funded program called "Positive Sprouts" and Suzanne wanted to offer her expertise and her farm for their curriculum.

Suzanne provided the club a small plot on her family's produce farm (Cecil Farms Produce). They planted on March 31st and have been tending it at least once weekly ever since. The kids are now enjoying harvesting the vegetables, and they sell it at the local farmer's market, use it for meals at the club, or provide it for their families. The money the kids make at the farmer's market goes back to the program.

"This has been a very successful program," Suzanne said. "The kids love it. The community members love it. The farmer's market customers love it. I had a customer start crying because she saw the joy on the kids' faces when they shared their experience with her. This has had such a positive impact on everyone involved.

Ag in the Classroom Launches National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix

The National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix is an online, searchable, and standards-based curriculum map for K-12 teachers. The Matrix contextualizes national education standards in science, social studies, and nutrition education with relevant instructional resources linked to Common Core Standards.

Search the instructional, classroom-ready resources >>

Derby Week is a Great Time to Celebrate our Horse Heritage

The running of the Kentucky Derby and our rich equine heritage definitely make life unique in our great Commonwealth of Kentucky. We have put a few quick lessons and resources together to help introduce your students to the equine industry and "the greatest two minutes in sports."

Lessons on Horses & The Kentucky Derby - http://www.teachkyag.org/equine.html

http://www.teachkyag.org/equine.html 

Many thanks are provided to the Kentucky Horse Council and the Kentucky Equine Education Project for their support of our programs. 

KyAEC Awarded Additional Grant for Agriculture Education Projects

On Friday, the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, chaired by Gov. Steve Beshear, approved an additional $72,500 for curriculum and educator training projects during its April board meeting. This amount is in addition to the $71,384 awarded at the March board meeting for a new Mobile Science Activity Center. The grants are being provided for half the cost of the following programs:

• Mobile Science Activity Center - new trailer designed for use in eastern Kentucky.
• Video and activity guide production for use with the Mobile Science Activity Centers
• Development of "ag day" curriculum tools and displays for use by agricultural organizations
• In-classroom agriculture literacy resource development - print and web based
• Development of Kentucky agriculture booklet for use by farms and agriculture organizations
• Training workshops for volunteer agriculture educators and farms offering school tours and agritourism
• Agriculture curriculum workshops for student teachers.

Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom will work to implement these programs over the next two years and thanks the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board for their commitment to advancing agriculture literacy. 

Earth Day is April 22: Learn how Kentucky Farmers are Conserving our Land and Water

Some say that every day is Earth Day for our farmers, as they rely on the health of their soil and water supplies to produce safe, quality foods. While all farmers make a special effort to conserve resources, we wanted to highlight farmers that have been recognized by the Leopold Conservation Award the past two years for the conservation methods they have implemented on their Kentucky farms.

Literacy Activities for Earth Day

Have students read any or all of the following Kentucky farmer profiles (download the pdf). Discuss and/or have students complete the corresponding ELA Informational Text Worksheet.

Videos of the farmers may be viewed on our website.

Students may also be given the following writing prompt:

How are Kentucky farmers protecting our land wand water? After reading the farmer profiles and informational texts and/or watching the videos, write an essay in which you describe how Kentucky farmers are currently using sustainable methods to grow food, fiber, and energy. Support your article with evidence from the texts and videos.

DID YOU KNOW that NO-TILL crop farming (the practice of not breaking the soil before planting) has its roots in Kentucky?

Christian County farmer Harry Young, Jr. planted the first commercial no-till crop 50 years ago. While the goal was to reduce soil erosion, additional benefits included reduced fuel use, increased organic matter and water holding capacity, and higher soil quality. Today, about 70 percent of the state's wheat acreage, 50 percent of the corn acreage, and 80 percent of soybean acreage is no-till.

Read the article: Kentucky celebrates 50 years of no-till farming | View the Video

DID YOU KNOW that all Kentucky farms are required to develop and use an Agricultural Water Quality Plan?

The Kentucky General Assembly passed the Kentucky Agricultural Water Quality Act in 1994 to protect surface and groundwater resources from pollution as a result of agriculture and silviculture (forestry) activities. The Agricultural Water Quality Act requires all landowner/land users with 10 or more acres being used for agriculture or silviculture operations to develop and implement a water quality plan using best management practices.

Read more about the Kentucky Agricultural Water Quality Act and Plan

Kentucky Agricultural Development Board Approves Grant for New Mobile Science Activity Center

Today the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, chaired by Gov. Steve Beshear, approved $71,384 toward the cost of a new Mobile Science Activity Center (MSAC) and curriculum enhancements during its March board meeting. The MSAC program is provided to schools across the Commonwealth through a partnership between the Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom (KyAEC) and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA). 

In 2013, KyAEC and its member organizations provided more than $250,000 to replace two aging MSAC units operated by KDA. As the current units continue to keep full schedules, KyAEC and KDA agreed to work toward purchasing a third center that is better suited to serve eastern Kentucky schools; the trailer will be shorter to more easily maneuver mountain roads. 

"We are very thankful for the Agricultural Development Board's support of this project," said Jennifer Elwell, KyAEC executive director. "The Mobile Science Activity Centers are educating about 25,000 students each year with hands-on, agriculture and science-based activities, and a new unit will allow us to reach an additional 10,000 students annually."

Working Together to Teach Kentucky Ag

By Jennifer Elwell
Executive Director

An exciting challenge has been presented to me and, ultimately, Kentucky’s farming community. I have been dedicating my professional life almost exclusively to agriculture education efforts the past several months with the Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom, and I realize that there are so many more students and teachers we could be reaching. We just need to work together, find new partners, and get creative.

The first task is to expand our current successful programs. The Mobile Science Activity Centers, administered and staffed by the KentuckyDepartment of Agriculture, are teaching the science of agriculture to about 24,000 students annually.

These trailers have been a group effort of our Kentucky agriculture and commodity organizations for many years, and the only limiting factor for reaching more students is time; the trailers continue to stay completely booked throughout the school year. The KAEC is now working to pull resources together to purchase a third Mobile Science Activity Center, which would allow the program to reach another 8,000 to 10,000 students each year. We are thrilled that the KDA has committed to providing staff and support for an additional unit. This is a program teachers request time and time again.

Celebrate Agriculture in the Classroom on National Ag Day - March 18

With our recent weather, it is hard to imagine that we will be welcoming spring in about two weeks. Farmers are itching to get out in their fields to start preparing the land for this year's crops, and we want to celebrate their efforts in providing food for our tables.

Wednesday, March 18, is National Ag Day, and we want to encourage you to plan a classroom activity that helps students understand how food and fiber products are produced and appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.

Here are a few suggestions:

K-3: Read a book that accurately portrays agriculture 

Each year, the American Farm Bureau Foundation selects an agriculture book for volunteers to read in classrooms across the country on Ag Day. Teaching plans and additional resources are available.

This year's book is The Apple Orchard Riddle by Margaret McNamara. In this playful and humorous story, the students learn a lot about apples and apple orchards-including how apples are harvested, how cider is made, and what the different varieties of apples are-while trying to solve a riddle. Purchase the book from AFBF if it is not available in your library. An educator's guide aligned to Common Core Standards is also available for purchase.

Kentucky Connection - After reading the book, teachers may then show their students this Kentucky Farms Feed Me video about an apple orchard in Kentucky. A teacher's guide and student worksheets are available for printing free of charge.

We have additional book suggestions on our Pinterest page for various ages and reading levels.

Developing the Informed Consumer

This post originally appeared in The Farmer's Pride:

For this month’s column, I am putting on my “youth education” hat.

Those of you who read The Farmer’s Pride on a regular basis may know that I recently changed jobs. I am now the executive director of the Kentucky Agriculture and Environment in the Classroom, a coalition of agriculture community members dedicated to growing agricultural and environmental literacy across the Commonwealth. While I have always been thankful for my work with the Kentucky Corn Growers and Kentucky Small Grain Growers Association members, I know that I will be able to serve a broader audience in my new role.

Over the past several years I have come to realize how important agriculture literacy is during a child’s education. Going beyond “kids need to know where their food comes from,” we are developing the future consumer. Once a person leaves the nest and begins to make their own purchasing decisions, they may have already formed some pretty staunch opinions about the products they want to buy, especially food. It is our job to provide all of the facts and data we have available as early as possible so future decisions can be based more on science and critical thinking rather than emotion.

The challenge is getting this information into the classrooms. We are competing with core content standards testing, one hundred other interest groups that want their materials used, time, and occasionally, strong conflicting views of our educators.