“My grandfather used to say that once in your life you need a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, and a preacher but every day, three times a day, you need a farmer.” -Brenda Schoepp. 

Since starting in 1985, Farm Day is long-standing program in Christian County 4-H that is provided to all first-grade students in the Christian County Public School System, Private Schools, and Homeschool. Due to COVID-19, we were unable to have Farm Day for 2 years. Luckily this year we were able to have an in-person program offered to all the schools with a great response. For the 2022 Farm Day, a total of 586 students and 114 teachers and volunteers attended during one of the two days offered and represented the 8 elementary schools found in Christian County. 

According to the Kentucky State Data Center, in the 2010 decennial census, 69% of the population in Christian County reside in an urban setting while 31% are rural.  As a result, many of the youth in Christian County has not experienced a farm and do not know where their food comes from. In 2018, Farm Day was revamped to meet this need. Stations were designed to educate students on food products and/or services that come from each animal or grain. As the participants traveled through each station, the group leader collected an item that represented their station. After visiting each station, the student visited the “Farmer’s Market” where they learned about MyPlate and eating healthy. Along with learning where their food comes from, many of the adults and students learned about the agricultural resources that are found in Christian County, like the ethanol plant for instance. One of the first-grade teachers was quoted as “Students enjoyed seeing and learning about new things. A lot of the students have never been to a farm or seen farm animals in person.”

There were a few changes to the event this year that included the addition of two new stations. This year students were also able to learn about farm equipment, also produce to see which kinds grow on a tree, above grown, or roots. Due to weather, the event was moved from outside on a farm, to the new Christian County Expo Center at the Extension office. Sadly 3 of the 11 schools in the county were not able to attend due to the weather watch.