Students prepare for farm visits

By Sarah Stultz | Albert Lea Tribune

Published Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Students from all over Freeborn County will get the chance this week to see elk, hog and dairy farms up close during the 17th Annual Third Grade Farm Tours.

Sponsored by the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Agricultural Committee, corporate sponsors and friends, the tours allow students the chance to get an inside peek into the daily operations of farms in the area.

On Wednesday, students from Hawthorne, Lakeview, Halverson, Sibley and St. Theodore’s elementary schools in Albert Lea, along with students from Alden-Conger and Glenville-Emmons, will visit the farms.

Then on Thursday, students from New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva and United South Central schools will get the opportunity.

Students will visit the elk farm of Dave and Dawn Claussen, the hog farm of Tony Kermes and the dairy farm of Bruce Ness.

“This is one of the events I do that I feel very strongly about,” said Chamber of Commerce Operations Manager Tami Riecke. “When I first started I had never been on a farm.”

She said she thinks it’s important for children to visit farms to learn what really goes on there.

During the tours, the children learn about where their food comes from and what steps have to be taken to get it ready to eat, she said. Before the tours, many children don’t understand all the steps that have to be taken to get their food from the farm to the table.

According to an article written by Roger Lonning in the September 2006 edition of the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Business Monthly, “The goal of this project is to put together an agriculturally-oriented educational program to enhance the understanding of agriculture in Freeborn County.”

The article stated that the tours began in 1991. The June 1991 issue of the Chamber Update stated the organization’s Agricultural Committee began to schedule fall farm tours for third-graders just in the Albert Lea School District.

In September 1992, the tours were offered to third-graders in Albert Lea and all other Freeborn County schools. At that time, the students toured a dairy farm, a poultry farm, a vegetable farm and a swine farm, the article stated.

In 1993, the students visited a sheep/lamb farm, a dairy farm and a hog farm.

An article published in the Sept. 23, 1994, edition of the Albert Lea Tribune stated, “The students got a chance to pet one of Wayne Busch’s sheep that were on display at the Ed and Judith Enderson (hog) farm. Other farms on the tour were R&M Farms near Hollandale to see a vegetable operation and the Tracy Skaar dairy farm south of Hayward. Over 500 students took part in the annual tour.”