Ag Days teaches kids importance of farming

This year’s harsh weather conditions and various government regulations have some local farmers jumping hurdles to sustain their farms, while wondering who will take over this difficult career when they retire.

Now, some of these farmers are relying heavily on the annual Idaho Farm Bureau Ag. Days program to help get the younger generation interested in farming.

Between Tuesday and Thursday more than one thousand fourth graders throughout the community are going to be swarming Swore Farms, and surprisingly many of them had no idea the food they eat is grown on farms.

Farmer Wendy Swore said most kids had no idea the food they buy from the grocery store came from somewhere before it landed on the shelves, which is a growing problem as the generation of farming children get younger and further from their original ties to the farm.

“Some of the kids here today haven’t seen a farm in their family since their great, great, great grandfathers,” Swore said. “In fact, I had an adult this year say they didn’t want to eat chickens from the farm. Instead, they wanted to get it where the good chicken comes from – the grocery store. They had no idea that it comes from a farm, regardless.”

That’s why Swore needs these programs such as Ag. Days to help people understand the importance of the issues farmers are facing.

Swore said the recent government hurdles such as the fight over water rights has been detrimental to farming since the federal government could come in and take over the waterways on each farm, giving little to no say to the farmers who need this resource.

(Read more about the water act issue here:http://bit.ly/1nlXTli)

“They don’t understand why it’s important to protect farms and their rights. So, you can’t have a lot of legislation since that makes it impossible to farm because there won’t be any food produced. There isn’t enough of us to have a bigger voice, so that’s why we have the Farm Bureau and other organizations,” Swore added.

She also said the issue of aging farmers not having any predecessors in the family to help take over the farm when they retire, is a problem that isn’t going away.

She said a great deal of this younger generation just doesn’t want to go into the laborious career path.

Swore’s daughter, Deanna, 16, said she wants to go into farming since that’s just a life she has always felt drawn toward.

“It comes as a source of pride for me,” Deanna said. “I don’t really know why, but it’s just a feeling knowing that it’s just a great thing to do.”

Swore Farms will open its annual corn maze on Saturday.