Article

As in most urban areas, it is always challenging to find ways to introduce young people to the many aspects of agriculture.

While gardening and growing vegetables is easily managed, it’s difficult to allow the younger generation to experience raising livestock, with city governance only allowing for chickens and rabbits within city limits.

We are fortunate in the Parma area to have a 48-acre historic farm right in the city proper. Stearns Homestead has become a home for one of the largest 4-H clubs in Cuyahoga County, where city kids can learn about and care for various livestock including cows, hogs, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, geese and quail.

I got involved at Stearns Homestead over 20 years ago, when I realized as the Cuyahoga Farm Bureau organization director the potential for Stearns Homestead to be a learning center for youth to get up close and personal with farm animals.

Currently I serve as a trustee for the Parma Area Historical Society, which manages Stearns Homestead, and volunteer three mornings each week to feed the farm animals and get them out of their stall or barn for the day.

Helping to develop a farm tour program for school groups, preschoolers and homeschoolers to learn about animal agriculture was one of my goals when I was with Farm Bureau. Over the past 10 years, more than 15,000 youth of all ages, pre-K through high school, have visited with the Stearns Homestead farm animals during the school year and summer months. The historical society continues to offer that program each year.

Along with school farm tours, Parma Area Historical Society has been fortunate to surface some very dedicated adult volunteers who saw the potential of growing the 4-H program at Stearns Homestead. Currently the Homestead Hoofers 4-H Club has 65 members, ages 6 years to 18 years old. Besides animal projects, many Homestead Hoofers 4-H members do nonanimal projects including quilting, archery and spin fish, expanding their interests and involvement.

The reality that Stearns Homestead and the Homestead Hoofers 4-H Club could provide the opportunity for ‘city kids’ to raise large livestock, specifically beef steers for the Cuyahoga County Junior Fair Market auction, came to fruition in 2021.

Two Parma school students, brothers Soda Kiser and Cooper Kiser (pictured above), took on the challenge that year. Every morning before school, they arrived at the farm to give their steers fresh water, feed and get them out for the day. Then in the evenings, Soda and Cooper returned to Stearns Homestead to feed, exercise and develop a connection to their steers after cleaning the barn stalls.

Soda has raised a steer each year the past four years, managing all its feed and care, and preparing the cattle for the county Junior Fair Market Auction. For his final project as a Homestead Hoofer 4-H member, he raised a crossbred steer, and earned Grand Champion at the Cuyahoga County Fair.

His brother, Cooper, raised a crossbred steer and placed Reserve Grand Champion. This year’s projects are underway. Cooper has Mookie, another crossbred and another 4-Her, Jake Johnson, is raising Tim, a Maine Anjou.

Soda’s participation in the ExploreAg program on-campus experience helped his decision to enroll at the University of Findlay.

That opportunity opened doors to future ag-related careers and has helped fuel his passion to pursue his lifetime goal to raise beef cattle. His involvement in Ohio 4-H Teen Leadership Council and Ohio Beef Youth Council has helped Soda gain valuable connections in the beef cattle industry.

Soda said his future ambitions would not have been realized without the opportunities provided by Stearns Homestead and Ohio Farm Bureau.

As a trustee of the Cuyahoga County Farm Bureau, I continue to feel it is imperative that we continue to offer scholarships for students attending agriculture-related studies at the college level and encourage participation in the ExploreAg program.

ExploreAg helps youth learn about the diversity of agriculture and how they might see themselves pursuing a career in the agricultural industry, just like Soda.

Anita Cook, who retired as an organization director at Ohio Farm Bureau in 2020, currently serves on the Cuyahoga County Farm Bureau Board of Trustees.