The Jefferson County 4-H Ag Field Day was held on September 26, 2019, at Sunny Acres Farm, a Southeast Jefferson County working farm. 150 elementary school students at the 4th-grade level along with their teachers experienced a working farm first-hand. 80% of these students had no awareness of where foods are created. As urban youth, their concept of the origination of their food is simply from the grocery store.

Partnering with outside agencies, youth were taught within areas of agriculture, nutrition, animal science, and water quality.  All classes were hands-on learning, team building, and actual tasting. The students spent the day learning of the difference between species and breeds of animals with an explanation of the food that is provided by that animal with Sunny Acres Farm. Kentucky Farm Bureau provided youth with the opportunity to see the fields where various crops are grown and provided a sample of a variety of vegetables grown by a local producer.  Along with diving in to learn about soybeans from the Kentucky Soybean Association, youth also explored a soybean maze.  The Louisville Water Company taught about water quality and the importance of water consumption, Kentucky State University 4-H talked about seed development, and the Jefferson County 4-H Assistants taught an Ag in the classroom butter making class.  The Jefferson County 4-H agents and assistants worked together on preparing and delivering the information in forms of classes to the youth throughout the day.

A verbal testimony from a few of the students “I want to make butter with my family and use the recipe card that you gave us”, another commented “I usually don’t butter, but yours is really good” and “I want to come back to the farm with my family so that I can stay longer”. At the end of the day, each student was allowed to choose a small pumpkin to take home. In a post-survey, 95% of the students could identify the animal that provided specific meats, 79% could identify the crop that provided certain processed foods, and 92% identified what some of the simple needs were to produce that food such as clean water provided by the Louisville Water Company.

The classes that attended the Ag Field day will continuously have 4-H programming in the form of 4-H in-school clubs, after school programs, and special programming throughout the entire year. The knowledge gained at the farm will provide the base as to what 4-H will be adding to throughout the school year.