Farm Field Trips Are Worth the Hassle

When our oldest sons attended school in Fond du Lac, we were the only farm family in the entire student body at Evans and Franklin Elementary Schools. Thus we were prime candidates (or targets) for eager teachers looking for a hands-on field trip to the farm. After saying yes and breaking the news to my husband, we began the furious task of readying the home farm for a band of rambunctious kindergarten and first grade students.

After cleaning the parlor, hitching up a hay wagon, germinating a handful of oat seeds, gathering several varieties of grains and forage products and rounding up the unwilling farm animals including an ornery goose, chickens, rabbits, calves, lambs and what not, we were ready.

What we couldn't clean up or hide, was the natural smells emanating from the farm. It's hard to find a big enough air freshener to disguise the organic perfume of 500 cows! And the reactions were predictable: "Ewwww, what's that smell?" "Gross!" We expected that from the kids but some of the adult chaperones were another story. One astute teacher replied to her students with great aplomb "If you've got animals, kids, you're going to have smells. Get used to it."

Once they got past that first hurdle, they were in heaven. Climbing up into the cab of the tractor like it was the greatest vehicle on earth or thrusting the nipple of an oversized bottle into the mouth of an eager calf (by then the kids couldn't have cared less about a little slobber getting on their hands). After downing an ice cream cone (with clean hands, of course) they migrated to the hill on the front lawn and entertained themselves by rolling down the hill, playing tag or throwing stones into the creek- simple games that kids in generations past have amused themselves with for years. Miles away from video games and television sets, these city kids were having more fun doing simple things than if they had booked a trip to Noah's Ark or Great America.

And guess what? They got an education in the process. Driving past many of the farms dotting the landscape in Fond du Lac and Dodge County these city children can now tell their parents and siblings just how those cows make milk, what kind of crops are growing in the field and what machinery is used to harvest them. The origin of their food is no longer a mystery. Although it's a fun place to visit, they know that a farm is a business and sometimes dangerous place.

Growing up on the farm, our sons sometimes felt out of the loop with their city classmates. But when fieldtrip day came, they became resident experts; showing their friends how to put on milk machines or how to handle a lamb or cradle a young chick in their hands. By the end of the day, I think they gained a greater appreciation for their unique lifestyle.

And my hat is off to folks like Waupun FFA Advisor Tari Costello and her students who host the annual Day on the Farm for hundreds of grade school children each year. They are well-organized, knowledgeable and are the best advertisement and educators for the farm industry anywhere. Keep up the good work. Like I said, it's worth the hassle especially when you are able to plant seeds of knowledge on such fertile ground.