Swore Farms holds Ag Days to educate kids in farming

For fourth graders in Bannock County, school took place on the farm Tuesday. It was Ag Day at Swore Farm near Chubbuck. Ag Day is sponsored by the Farm Bureau Federation and runs in conjunction with Highland High School’s FFA days. This is the 10th year Swore Farm has hosted Ag Days. The goal of Ag Days is to teach kids about farming and locally grown food. “We think that because we live in Idaho that kids know about farming, but a lot of the kids don’t know as much about agriculture as we think they do,” said Rhonda Barfuss, chair of the Bannock County women’s farm bureau federation. “So we promote this to help the kids learn a little bit more about agriculture and really, where their food comes from.” Farm Bureau spends between $5,000-$6,000 to sponsor the event. That money covers the cost of bussing the kids to the farm, as well as the snacks and food provided for the kids. Ag Days runs for three days and has about 1,200 kids participating. As part of Ag Days, kids heard about different aspects of agriculture from different groups, such as Bannock County Soil and Water Conservation and Idaho Fish and Game. The kids also got to learn about farm animals and picking potatoes. Each kid got to fill a five-pound bag of potatoes to take home. Swore Farm said on average, each family hasn’t had a farmer in the family in three generations so keeping kids educated about a farm’s importance is key. “For our family, we feel that it’s really important for the community to know that farms are important,” said Wendy Swore, owner of Swore Farms. “You got to support your farms and make sure there’s no legislation coming through that makes it impossible to farm and create food.” Bryan Searle, president of the Farm Bureau, said he loves seeing the kids get excited about agriculture. He said it’s a great investment to show kids their food doesn’t come from a grocery store. Also as part of Ag Day at the farm, kids got to go through part of the farm’s corn maze. The maze officially opens to the public Oct. 1. It will be open Mondays and Fridays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. All other times are by appointment. Farm Bureau will also be sponsoring an Ag Days in Marsh Valley toward the end of the season.