Ag Days
Fourth-graders learn different faces of agriculture
Nicole Tavenner
Lina Sturman cuddles a lamb named Star during Ag Days.
Nicole Tavenner
Fresh ground beef sizzles on the gril in preparation for lunch at Ag Days.
Nicole Tavenner
Susan Gardner models her handmade wool mittens for students.
Berl Tiskus
Berl Tiskus
Berl Tiskus
Berl Tiskus
Berl Tiskus
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Nicole Tavenner
Berl Tiskus
Berl Tiskus
Berl Tiskus
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POLSON — Amonth-old white Katahdin lamb named Corn nestled into kids’ arms at the Fourth Grade Ag Days, sponsored by the Lake County Conservation District.
Corn and his younger cocoa-colored friend are “bottle babies,” meaning their mothers couldn’t or wouldn’t feed them, so owner David Sturman and his family bottle feed them.
Sturman brought the two lambs to Ag Days so fourth graders could get a look at Katahdin sheep, named after Mount Katahdin in Maine. The sheep don’t have wool or need to be sheared; they are covered with fine silky hair and are raised for meat, according to Sturman.
While thinking about a fluffy white lamb eventually becoming lamb chops is tough, Ag Days’ purpose is to teach all kids — whether they live on a farm or ranch or not — more about agriculture in the Mission Valley.
Kids, teachers and parent volunteers rotated from station to station. They loaded up for a hayride around the Polson Fairgrounds and a chance to look at Buford, a huge longhorn steer.
Across the field from Buford were a couple of shiny 4-wheelers for kids to sit on, courtesy of Ronan Power Products. Before he started his presentation, Craig Blevins asked how many kids in each group knew someone who had been hurt on a 4-wheeler. The numbers were astounding, nearly half in most groups.
Blevins talked about safety gear — a helmet, safety glasses, gloves, long pants, long-sleeved shirt and leather boots — and how to tell if the machines are the right size for the rider.
Susan Gardner brought just-sheared wool, cleaned wool and wool yarn, and even wore a wool jacket so the fourth-graders could see how wool is used.
Jane Clapp and her horse Smokey demonstrated training methods Clapp uses to make her horse “bombproof” so it won’t spook at loud noises.
Another group of horse people brought a couple of quarter horses, a Morgan, an appaloosa and a paint horse to explain to the students about horse breeds.
Michaela Blevins and another 4-H participant did the same thing with cattle, telling kids about different cattle breeds and feeding cattle.
The Mission Valley Back Country Horsemen demonstrated packing horses using panniers or canvas and manties, which are ropes used to hitch packs on a horse.
While the kids were fascinated by the horses loaded for a trip to the backcountry, they learned that the backcountry horsemen pack into the woods to have fun and help out the National Forest Service by removing fallen trees from trails.
Moving from horses to earthworms didn’t faze the fourth-graders, who soaked up the information Larry Robertson and Ben Montgomery provided on how earthworms make soil better. Then they held worm races.
“I love dirt,” said student Finley Johnson, adding that she likes to add water and make mud.
An interactive watershed trailer had streams of real water running by. Zoe Lilja and Dennis DeVries used toy people, animals and machines to set up a realistic watershed. It was difficult for children to keep their hands off the farm setup and out of the water and “sand” made from ground-up milk jugs.
Kids had to think about why old cars bolstering the banks of the streams doesn’t work so well, why dead animals shouldn’t be left in the water, or why an outhouse near a creek is not a good idea.
While horses had hay for lunch, the kids enjoyed hamburgers from the Montana Beef Council, cooked and served by Chris Malgren, LCCD district manager, and her crew of volunteers. After eating at picnic tables in the sunshine, the students played games, running and laughing before heading back to learn more about agriculture.
