Thursday was harvest day at the Ministry of Agriculture’s Food Farm at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre.

Agriculture Canada works closely with the Ministry on the event which is part of the Agriculture In the Classroom program.

Kari Burnett is an Agriculture Program Specialist with the Ministry says it's a great hands-on learning event for the students.

“The kids that are out here came out in June as Grade three’s planted a garden, looked at seedlings, which they took home, and had a chance to see some animals. Now, as Grade 4’s they’ve come back to harvest the garden. They’re actually grinding some flour and they get to eat cookies – so they're making a good connection there. Mustard, a lot of them had never seen grainy mustard so they are eating that.

She notes that throughout the event Thursday about 184 Grade 4 students toured through the various stations to learn more about agriculture from crops to livestock and how they are turned into the food we enjoy.

“We’re crushing Canola again which is always a hit and they're having some popcorn. The apple juice press, the apples were harvested not that long ago, so they’re making some apple juice and the kids are liking that. We’ve got a habitat game so kids are learning about endangered species and critical habitat and what happens when we lose habitat. We’ve got FCC doing something on Money Matters which is really interesting I think, talking about needs versus wants and budgeting.  I think that’s been an eye-opener for a lot of people. We’re making butter at the Dairy station, we’ve got a pig and then, of course, we’ve got the big yellow combine. The kids are pretty excited to get to sit in that and see all the fancy controls.”

Valerie Gordon is a teacher from Eastend who brought her students up to take part and was extremely pleased with the event.

“Even with kids of mine that are experienced with crops they’ve learned something about animals, and budgeting, and machinery. The quick transitions, ten minutes, is just a perfect amount of time for the organizers to hit and do interactive activities. There’s such a huge variety. My kids are just blown away, they never thought about hogs and dairy and other things. So, that whole agricultural family is what they’re learning about.”

Burnett says it’s a fun learning opportunity for the kids and a great event for the volunteers and sponsors that help to showcase the importance of Agriculture; especially when we see more and more families further removed the farm.

This year’s Food Farm Harvest welcomed 184 students from Swift Current Schools including Fairview, All Saints, Irwin and Centennial as well as Waldeck and Eastend.