Ford County Farm Bureau hosts annual ‘Day on the Farm’

    Over 200 Ford County fourth-grade students gathered at the Ford County Fairgrounds recently for Farm Bureau's ninth annual “Day on the Farm."
    Dodge City High School Future Farmers of America students provided goats, chickens and a rabbit and also were group leaders. Kaylee and Lindsey Simon, DCHS FFA members, brought in a dairy cow to show the process of how the milk ends up at the grocery store. A few lucky teachers even tried to milk the cow, although presenter Stacie Nichols got the most milk out of her.
    The Simon girls also brought sheep and lambs. They talked about raising sheep and showed how to shear a sheep. After watching the shearing, the students went to the station by Karla Rickner, who took the wool and carded it, spun it and did some weaving. She showed the students articles that were made out of wool. She gave each student a small ball of yarn and taught them how to do finger weaving, which they enjoyed doing throughout the day.
    David Arnold brought his sheep-herding dog and demonstrated to the students how the dog works by the different commands he gives to get the sheep wherever he needs them to be.
    Jeff Sutton presented his Wheel of Ag, and Griselly Bradfield told about the parts of a hamburger and how each piece originates from the farm. Extension Agent Andrea Burns' presentation was on "Great Grains of Kansas," and the local EMS department was on hand to make the students comfortable with an ambulance.
    Midwest Energy brought its electrical safety trailer, but the much-needed moisture cut their program short. The Dodge City Vet Clinic and Chad Kerr, along with FFA students/employees, Heath Tieben and Janae Wasson, showed the fourth-graders how to safely approach a strange dog and gave some tips on taking care of their pets. Amy Gerdes with Crop Quest talked about different ag careers, and Roger Sewell with High Plains Cotton Gin brought a bale of cotton and told the students what can be made with it.
    A lunch of pizza, pudding, applesauce and milk was served by the Ford County Farm Bureau Board members, with help from Kansas Farm Bureau President Steve Baccus and District leaders John and Berna Mae Stegman and Dale Maneth.
    Even though the children were not actually on a farm, we hope they gained some information on how farming affects their lives.
    Ford County Farm Bureau would like to thank those that were involved in helping make this event a huge success.