- Author: Laura J. Van der Staay
The Kings County Farm Day was held at the Kings Fairgrounds in Hanford on March 1, 2016. This collaborative effort of the Kings County Farm Bureau, the Kings County Office of Education, and the Kings Fair provides a venue to increase the awareness of third grade students about how our lives depend upon Agriculture. Students were exposed to Agricultural equipment, animals, and practices. Presentations and workshops were provided by older students in 4-H and FFA along with many other volunteers. Everyone helped make the event that served 2335 third graders and 105 teachers from 35 schools a great success.
Kearney helped by providing a lettuce planting workshop. Kennedy Baker, a Kings county 4-H All Star, who is a junior at Lemoore High School, joined over twenty other volunteers to help students learn what it takes to be a healthy plant and a healthy person, as well as plant 2 leaf lettuce seedlings to take home, grow, and enjoy eating.
A Hanford Sentinel story on Farm Day can be found at this link; A Kings County Farm Bureau story is here.
- Author: Laura J. Van der Staay
This year, Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center participated in both the Kings County Farm Day and the Fresno County Farm and Nutrition Day. KARE's mini workshop discusses what it takes to be a healthy plant and what it takes to be a healthy person. The students plant leaf lettuce to take home so that it can grow and they can eat it. The Kings County event attracted over 2700 students and the Fresno County event attracted over 3500 students. Left over lettuce transplants were used by different FFA programs. These events were made possible by generous donations from Greenheart Farms, The Plant People, and Valley Soil & Forest Products. Our ability to deliver these workshops are in great part due to the wonderful volunteers who come and work hard at the events. Fresno's lettuce planting was featured on the KMPH Channel 26 Great Day morning show. We also thank the respective fair staff and Farm Bureau staff.