Category Archives: Ag Events
PREVIEW: National Ag Day!
Well, I hope you all are wearing your green today, but I wanted to take some time in today’s blog to tell you about another awesome event that will be taking place all next week—National Ag Week!
Normally, I would have waited until next week to write about this, but since we will be away for spring break I wanted to let you know about it now so you can start looking forward to it!
The American Agriculture Council is sponsoring this celebration week and will be holding events all over the United States March 13-19th. One special part of this week I wanted to highlight is National Ag Day, which will be March 15th.
The Agriculture Council of America (ACA) is an organization composed of leaders in the agriculture, food and fiber communities dedicated to increasing the public awareness of agriculture’s vital role in our society. The Agriculture Council of America and the National Ag Day program were started in 1973.
In getting ready for Ag Day, the ACA held a video essay contest as a way to give others a chance to share their agriculture story. This year’s winner was Kyle Trivino from California and his video was awarded the spotlight on their website and Facebook Page. Check out the video—it has some really neat facts about agriculture!
And to add on to the neat facts you heard in Kyle’s video, I have added some more of my own for you to enjoy:
- Lettuce is a member of the sunflower family.
- It takes 24 to 26 hours for a hen to produce an egg; there is 30 minutes between each egg-producing cycle.
- There are over 500 different types of bananas. That means if you ate a different kind of banana every day, it would take almost a year and a half to eat every one!
- In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.
- One of the most popular varieties of green asparagus is named after Martha Washington, the wife of George Washington
How neat! I didn’t even know about some of those! I really hope you guys go out and try to learn something new about agriculture. You’ll be surprised at everything that’s out there!
HAPPY (early) AG DAY EVERYONE!
P.S. Don’t forget to check back later to learn about “Agritourism” in Indiana and also make sure to check out Sarah’s blog as well!
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Break out the Blue Jackets-It’s National FFA Week!
(Originally published on February 23, 2011, links updated Feb 23, 2015.)
It’s a big week in the Ag world! This week we are celebrating National FFA Week.
Each year, FFA chapters around the country celebrate National FFA Week. The week-long tradition began in 1947 when the National FFA Board of Directors designated the week of George Washington’s birthday as National FFA Week in recognition of his legacy as an agriculturist and farmer. The first National FFA Week was held in 1948. Today, FFA Week always runs Saturday to Saturday and encompasses Feb. 22, Washington’s birthday.*
A majority of people have heard about the FFA organization, but most people assume that it’s just about kids who grew up on a farm and are only concerned with beef cows, big tractors and blue jackets. But this is definitely not the case!
FFA, which used to stand for (Future Farmers of America), has come a long way over the years. The main purpose of FFA is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their:
- Potential for premier leadership
- Personal growth
- Career success through agricultural education
By this point, you might be asking yourself, what IS the deal with those blue jackets they wear?
According to the National FFA Timeline and other sources, the jackets were originally created to be worn by the Fredericktown Band of the Fredericktown FFA Chapter, and soon the jackets caught on with other chapters. The Official FFA Jacket was adopted in 1933 as the Organization’s “Official Dress” and now serves as a symbol of professionalism and pride. If you want to read more about the jacket’s history, you can get it straight from the company who makes them- Universal Lettering Company.
To more about the history of FFA, check out their website: https://www.ffa.org/about/what-is-ffa/ffa-history
And in true FFA fashion, always remember to “Lead out Loud” this week with your “Blue Jackets, Gold Standards”—HAPPY FFA WEEK EVERYONE!
*Excerpt from http://www.ffa.org.
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FOOD CHECK-OUT WEEK!
To start off my posts this week, I wanted to share something really cool that’s happening THIS WEEK that not many people know about. It’s called Food Check-out Week and its sponsored by the Farm Bureau Organization.
Food Check-Out Week is a national program that is helping consumers find solutions to eating healthy on a stretched budget. National FCO Week is going on the rest of this week and I encourage all of you to check it out! There are several Food Check-out activities happening right here in Indiana, and they all go to a great cause.
All this week, Indiana Farm Bureau members will be stocking the shelves of charities like Ronald McDonald House, local food banks and shelters with food and cash donations. Counties will also be using this opportunity to spread the news of how every American benefits from the efficiency and productivity of our nation’s farm families.
Did you know that most American families earn enough income by mid-February to pay for their food for an entire year?!
Honestly, I didn’t either! Its things like this that Farm Bureau and their Women’s Leadership Committee are trying to help consumers think about when they are buying groceries.
Here are some other neat things they are doing around the area to help support this cause:
- Last year, the Marion County Farm Bureau gave away $1,000 in free groceries to one lucky member!
- Follow the hashtag #FCOW on Twitter to learn more about Food Check-Out Week,
- Connect on Facebook – for every fan, Farm Bureau will donate $1 to Ronald McDonald House.
- Their goal is to raise $3,500 by April!
- Supermarket demonstration stations –Check your local grocery!
Registered Dietitian Cynthia Chandler (L) offers tips on buying fresh produce during a pilot supermarket tour organized by the AFB Women's Leadership Committee.
This is a really neat program and can offer some very useful information for everyone—so get out there and “CHECK it OUT”!
McLennan County Farm Bureau -- McLennan CFB board members surprised local shoppers by offering to pay for the farmers' contributions to their grocery baskets.
boilermakerag 