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Pike County Farm Bureau held its seventh annual Agriculture Awareness Day for more than 400 third-grade students and teachers at the Pike County Fairgrounds. The goal for the day is to show the students the important role agriculture takes in their lives every day.

Pike County Farm Bureau typically invites 15 presenters who, in 10-minute sessions, offer information to the students in a fun, lighthearted manner. Presenters have included Mead paper company, OFBF, Ohio Cattleman’s Association, local farmers, Ohio Corn Growers Association, Pike Soil and Water Conservation District, antique tractor collectors, OSU Extension, OSU South Centers, Ohio Bluebird Association, Shawnee Animal Clinic, Mills Pride wood products and many more. The county group has brought in a petting zoo, made paper and taught about composting. Pike County Farm Bureau members do the majority of the work and presentations. The health care class from the Pike County Vern Riffe Vocational School offers first aid for the event.

Each teacher is provided with a teacher packet, which includes lesson plans, worksheets, and ideas for use in the classroom. It provides teachers with ideas to tie agriculture into all subject areas and provides links to proficiency test learning outcomes and objectives. Each class also takes home a "goody box" which includes pencils, crayons, coloring books, erasers, snacks, and other items donated by the various commodity groups and businesses involved in the day.

They also held a nametag contest and the winning class received T-shirts and a copy of "Lily’s Garden," OFBF’s 2004 Children's Literature Award winner. The top three winners of an essay contest won Wal-Mart gift certificates.

To support the effort, Pike County Farm Bureau takes donations from local businesses to help with expenses. The group sends home a pamphlet with students that lists sponsors of the day, presenters, information about Farm Bureau youth opportunities and about joining Farm Bureau, and local contacts for Farm Bureau. A great deal of support comes from county commissioners who attend the event every year and the Pike County Fair Board, which allows the fairgrounds to be used for free.

"We are very proud of our Ag Awareness Day. It is the one thing that we keep in mind when other things don't seem to go the way we want," said Laura Corcoran, Pike County Farm Bureau county information coordinator. "For a small county, we think that we are making a big difference with this. The kids love it and the teachers always give us high marks – they tell us that they think that it gets better each year."