Agriculture has always been a significant factor in the sustainability and development the nation and Kentucky in particular.  Unfortunately, the important role of agriculture as a foundation is not always apparent to those outside of agriculture.  Current generations of children often see agriculture only in terms of narrow stereotypes—a farmer, a cow, and/or a  tractor, with the stereotypical farmer only  visualized as an old man that "wears bib overalls and chews on straw". These groups of children and youth  represent the future leaders of society,  the people we will depend on to support, regulate, and advocate for  agriculture.  

Because the majority of the public is now almost completely removed from  agriculture in their daily lives, it is of utmost importance that best  practices in agricultural education are identified to ensure  agricultural literacy is maintained in future generations of Americans. 

Cates Farm is a local agritourism venue that works hard to get the youth in Henderson County re-connected with agriculture.  For the third year, Cates Farm invited the entire 3rd and 4th grade classes to participate in a field day.  Extension played a large role with the educational programming every year.

The participants learn about where their food comes from, what we use farm products for other than food, where the products go from the farm and through what processes it goes through before landing on our table or in our clothes we wear.  In addition, the participants have active participation walking through the crops, climbing on equipment, grinding up corn, or even interacting with technology used on the farm.

In three years, we have interacted with over 1200 youth; many of which were involved the year before.  Informal interviews have revealed that most repeat participants remember a large part of last years program and typically are much more involved in the discussion the second time.  

Questions asked of the teachers in the third year revealed that their students often relate what they learned on the farm to other porjects in the classroom.