See How We Celebrate National Agriculture Day

This week is National Ag Week. There are events going on all over the U.S. to help educate the public in many different ways. Here in Marin County, CA, we participated in the 26th annual Marin County Farm Day. This year's Farm Day theme was "Udderly Marin Cows". This free event provides hands-on educational experiences outside the classroom for school children Kindergarten through 6th grade and for children of all ages including preschool. A special highlight this year is the Dairy Council of California's mobile dairy classroom. Over 30 Northern California ranchers, growers, producers and educators provide interactive exhibits on agriculture, health, farm animals, gardens and environmental education. Farm Day is a collaborative effort of the following agencies: Marin County Department of Cultural and Visitor Services, Marin County Farm Bureau, Marin County Office of Education, Golden Gate Farmers Market, North Bay Dairy Women, Marin Farmers Markets, Marin County Department of Weights and Measures, and the University of California Cooperative Extension/Master Gardeners/4-H Paige enjoyed meeting this little goat......... Paige is helping her cousins, Morgan & Jack at the Tri-Valley 4-H booth with their rabbits. This event provides 'hands on' experience to the public, where they can pet the animals and ask questions......

Bryce, learning about hatching chicks.... Bryce said 'Hi' to Clo the Cow from Clover Stornetta.... Balloons given out by Tomales FFA (Future Farmers of America)...... Bryce is receiving his balloon..... All Marin County schools are able to participate in contests according to age. This is the mural Bryce's class put together which won 1st place (he's pointing to the green cow that he colored)..... There are many indoor, 'hands on' demonstrations. Here is one on roping...... Ponies to pet.....

Horse vaulting demonstration........

Sheep to pet......... At the Marin County Farm Bureau booth, children were asked to guess how many pieces of fruit were in the jar, the most accurate guess won a prize.................... Here is an amazing outdoor sheepherding exhibition....... Check out this Border Collie!........ The Dairy Council of California demonstrates the milking of a cow with their mobile dairy classroom............. There were many opportunities to get up close and personal with farm animals...... Here is the North Bay Dairy Women's booth educating about 'Farms, Food & You'..... Learning about Honeybees. The children were able to 'build' their own Honeybee keeper to take home with them....... This is Bryce's........ The honeybees crawl in the open end and make a home........ Learning how a few vegetables grow.......

Beets...........

An education on different types of oranges and how they grow......... More friends to pet......... This rat was moving so fast, it was difficult to snap a photo.......

Children were able to take a little worm farm home with them. This is Bryce's.......

More education and take home goodies...... Bryce was very excited about the milk carton piggy bank he brought home....... Bryce also collected a few packages of seeds to take home. Can't wait to plant them!......... More goodies that were taken home and placed on the fridge.......... Bryce was very interested in this handout he brought home......especially with regards to the reasoning behind why the sugar and fats category was so small compared to the other, healthier categories. A great teaching tool. He immeadiately placed it on our fridge using his mosquito magnets.......... A fun morning in it's entirety!!

Happy Friday! Cheers!