A GREAT IDEA

The concept was initiated seven years ago by Plain Grove dairy farmer Richard Kind, an extension board member of 40 years.

Kind and his wife, Blanche, have long been advocates of farm education. In the 1970s, they invited children to their house for “Fun on the Farm Day.”

For several years Blanche was chairwoman of the Lawrence County Farm Tour, giving city folks a glimpse of country life by visiting a variety of local farms. Some children, especially from the city, have never seen a live farm animal before, Kind said.

He and Blanche and their two sons, Dean and Dwight, milk 30 cows and have 275 head of young dairy stock on the farm they have owned since 1970.

“We talked about nine years ago about the negative things spread about agriculture,” Kind said. They included concerns about eggs having salmonella, the fear of cranberries causing cancer and the Alar scare in apples.

“We decided something should be done to show we have the safest and amplest food supply of any nation, comparable to the amount of income a working family has,” he said.

Getting started

Only New Castle students participated in the first Ag Encounter, and that year the extension board received a $1,200 grant from the department of agriculture for bus transportation.

That was the only year for the grant, but the program has continued strong ever since. The school districts now provide their own busing.

“Every classroom in Lawrence County’s fourth grade is here this year,” Kind said. He explained fourth grade was chosen as the best age for comprehension.

According to Janice Alberico, Lawrence County extension director, First National Bank and the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau were co-sponsors of the event, and the county fair directors donated use of the fairgrounds.

Each student received an ice cream sandwich to top off their packed lunches.