By Scout Nelson
The National Agriculture in the Classroom annual conference will bring nearly 600 teachers to Minneapolis from June 23–26. These educators aim to learn how to integrate real-world agriculture topics into primary and secondary school curriculums, especially in STEM, social sciences, and language arts.
The event features keynote speeches, hands-on workshops, and an exhibit hall. What makes this conference unique is the traveling workshops—educational field trips that take attendees out of the classroom and onto actual farms and agricultural businesses.
Twelve such workshops are planned, with around 500 teachers participating. One popular tour, titled “Corn, from Field to Glass,” will guide teachers through the journey of corn production. Participants will explore a corn and soybean farm near Minneapolis and later visit a local distillery that produces bourbon using Minnesota-grown corn.
“When it comes to agriculture in Minnesota, there’s so much to see!” said Keri Sidle. “This is our chance to showcase our state’s contribution. We rank 6th in the nation for total agricultural production, 5th for crop production, and 8th for livestock production. The state’s agricultural businesses make over $26 billion in agricultural sales every year.”
Another traveling session explores cooperative business models in agriculture. Teachers will visit CHS’s grain-handling port along the Minnesota River and the Seward Community Coop in Minneapolis, highlighting both large-scale and local cooperative operations. These businesses, though different in size, show how co-ops work by being owned and managed by their employees.
Minnesota Corn supports Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom to raise awareness about the value of farming in the state. More about the initiative can be found at minnesota.agclassroom.org.
Photo Credit:university-of-minnesota
Categories: Minnesota, Business, Education