GREAT FALLS — Nearly 800 Cascade County fourth-graders traded classroom time for a hands-on look at Montana agriculture Thursday at Montana Expo Park as part of the High Plains Conservation District's annual Ag Days.
From branding to churning butter to making ice cream, students rotated through nine stations covering topics central to Montana's number one industry.
Tim McGonigal reports - watch the video here:
Tenlee Atchison, executive director of the High Plains Conservation District, said the event is designed to connect students with where their food comes from.
"We have them learn about pollinators and the importance of pollinators to their food. There is a whole station about commodities, all different commodities and what they're used for."
Students also learned about soils, water, safety and electricity, and got to watch pasta being made. Mitch Holmberg, packaging manager for Pasta Montana, explained why that station matters.
"All our wheat is grown locally, and it actually is sent to General Mills. And it's pumped to us by a pipe from General Mills. So our, you know, pasta, it's important for our kids to see the fact that, you know, what, what it takes to go from the farm to the table to their mac and cheese or to their lasagna."
The branding station featured live farm animals this year — a first for Ag Days.
The most popular stop was the ice cream making station. Wynnet Person, a fourth grader at Cascade Elementary School, said the experience left an impression.
"We learned how to make ice cream, and where all the things that make ice cream come from. And what plant they came from and everything."
Atchison said the event, which the High Plains Conservation District — formerly the Cascade County Conservation District — has hosted for about 15 years, has grown thanks to strong community support.
"The conservation district has been doing this for just about 15 years. And it's just grown and grown. The agriculture community comes together big time for these students. And they, put a lot of time and effort into it."
Atchison said the broader goal of Ag Days is to instill a conservation mindset in the next generation.
"Conservation is the wise use of natural resources. And so, we're trying to teach them why it's important to be conservation minded. Why food and fiber is directly related to all of that."
This article has been lightly edited with the assistance of AI for clarity, syntax, and grammar.
