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Whether they were familiar or not with agriculture, the public got “A Taste of Agriculture in Kosciusko County” at the fairgrounds in Warsaw Tuesday evening.
Emily Kresca, Purdue Extension agriculture and natural resources educator for Kosciusko County, said this was the 26th year for the event.
“This is to educate the public on agriculture in Kosciusko County, the importance of agriculture in our county because it’s one of the biggest investments here in Kosciusko County. So, (it’s) allowing people to come in and learn about agriculture, the importance of agriculture and get to know some of the local people who grow things and are farmers here,” she explained.
In the Sheep Barn, people could try some hard-boiled eggs from Cal-Maine Foods, ice cream and cheese curds from the Dairy Committee, taco meat by the Kosciusko County Cattlemen’s Association, chips and salsa from The Homemakers Club and there was water donated by the Soil & Water Conservation District (SWCD).
Outside of the Beef Barn, Echoes of the Past provided samples of the ice cream they’re known for at events.
Inside the Beef Barn, there were booths for the Kosciusko County Farm Bureau, SWCD, Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams, KC Recycling Depot, Kosciusko County Cattlemen’s Association, Beachler’s Sugar Bush, USDA Farm Service Agency, Maple Leaf Farms, The Watershed Foundation and Cal-Maine Foods with chicks. The SWCD was handing out Colorado Blue Spruce saplings.
Then in the Dairy Barn, booths were set up for the K-County Goat Club, Purdue Master Gardeners Program, Kosciusko County 4-H, The Farmers Market at Winona, The Olde Farmhouse, Irish Mudd LLC, Hill N Dale Farm and the Dairy Committee.
Jim Alexander, a member of the Dairy Committee, said they were just getting kids exposed to the dairy industry.
“The Dairy Committee has a group that leases dairy calves at Beer Dairy in Milford for kids who can’t afford to take care of a heifer. They can take care of one at that farm and they get to show the cow at the fair,” he said.
They have 17 kids signed up for this year. “It’s a really cool program for kids who have never shown anything for 4-H,” Alexander said.
Outside of the barns was a big John Deere tractor and free popcorn in a “Taste of Ag” cup at a booth where people could learn about farm machinery.
Kresca said the biggest change in agriculture is definitely technology and its impact.
“That’s starting to change some things. But, then, too, I just think why this event is so important is because I feel like people are getting further and further removed from the farm, not really understanding where their food comes from, how it’s grown and things like that. So educating people on where their food comes from, not just from the store. Someone grew it and things like that,” she said.
Tuesday’s event brought out people of different ages and families of several generations.
Every year, the turnout at “A Taste of Agriculture” varies depending on the weather, Kresca stated, so she estimated it could be anywhere from 500 to 900 people by the end of the two-hour event. There was some rain and hail for about 20 minutes beginning at 5:36 p.m.
A Taste of Agriculture is always held the week after spring break as the weather starts to get nice. “But then we want to make sure we have it early enough in April before all the farmers get out into their fields and start to get into their busy time. So we want to try to hit the nice weather, and then also hit before farmers get into their busy time,” Kresca said.
In addition to “A Taste of Ag,” she said they also do Ag Days for all the fourth-graders in the county. On Tuesday, fourth-graders from Wawasee, Whitko and Tippecanoe Valley schools were at the fairgrounds to experience the same stations to learn about agriculture. All the Warsaw fourth-graders were scheduled for today, Wednesday.
“Between these two days, I hit all the fourth-graders in the county, learning about agriculture and why it’s important, and then also bringing in the community,” Kresca said. “So, it’s a pretty big event for us to show the importance of agriculture.”
She said they have a great group of volunteers - over 60 - to get it ready and run the various stations.
