West Holmes FFA helps with farm tour
On Sept. 27, members of the West Holmes FFA assisted the Holmes County SWCD in presenting the annual fifth-grade farm tour at Spring Hill Farms in Nashville.
Members who attended were the West Holmes FFA officers, seniors and juniors. Officers include: Becca Schuch, Alysa Pringle, Sarah Irwin, Alex Pringle, Derek Miller, Maren Drzazga, Andi Schuch and Garett Fowler. Seniors attending were Maria Stiener, Dylan Bender, Pacee Miller, Kaden Mcdougle, Olivia Gerber, Dakotah Ringwalt, Jess Miller, Garrett Houin. Juniors attending were Maison Carter, Torrie Savage, Grant Miller, Tyler Zimmerly, Gabe Averbauch, John Maloney, Wyatt Schlauch, Logan Vansickle, Wyatt Myers, Laina Crosky, Bree Pringle, and Taelor Patterson.
The FFA helped the SWCD set up and run the event. The schools in attendance were Killbuck, Lakeville, Millersburg and Holmesville. The members led them to stations such as soils, farm safety, forestry, farming, wildlife and water quality.
They discussed how important soil is to agriculture, as well as why you don’t want to waste it. Forestry experts told the kids how to look for certain aspects of trees to identify them and how to calculate a tree’s age.
At the farming station, Marshall Overholt talked about raising and feeding dairy cows, while wildlife station expert Dave Woodring went over the value of wildlife and why game wardens are in place.
An ag extension agent spoke about the importance of filtration, and about the scientific method. Wyatt Schlauch and Maison Carter talked about and demonstrated safety around cows and the common blind spots and hazards of them, Derek Miller talked about PTO and tractor safety, Garret Houin discussed horse and general farm safety, and Becca Schuch, Andi Schuch, Garrett Fowler and Alysa Pringle talked about ATV/UTV safety.
After everyone went through all of the stations, they were fed a lunch of hotdogs, chips, ice cream and milk provided by the Nashville United Methodist Church.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: West Holmes FFA helps with fifth-grade farm tour
