BY MALINDA OSBORNE SVN REPORTER mosborne@svnmail.com
AMBOY - With all the interruptions, Renee Sheaffer had a somewhat difficult time teaching the middle-schoolers how to milk a cow. It wasn't the kids, mind you - it was all the background grunts and moos.
Sheaffer was one of the speakers at Friday's Ag Expo at the Lee County 4-H Fairgrounds. Nearly 300 fifth- and sixth-graders from Amboy, Ashton Franklin Center, Steward, St. Anne and St. Mary's schools came out on a bright spring day to soak up knowledge about an industry with deep roots in their communities - agriculture.
"Too many times people think it's just a farmer, but everyone up and down the food chain is part of it," said Katie Pratt, marketing coordinator for University of Illinois Extension in Lee County. She helped organize what is hoped to become an annual event, designed to teach youngsters the importance of agriculture to the economy and community.
Presenters focused on the byproducts of agriculture, and how they apply to everyday life, Pratt said.
Chuck Meyer, a local farmer who raises corn, soybeans, wheat and pigs, talked about how big pigs can grow - how at 5 weeks, a piglet weighs about 20 pounds, but four months later can weigh 250 pounds.
"On average, a pig can gain two pounds a day," said Meyer said, who once had a sow that weighed nearly half a ton. Meyer raises 4,000 swine a year, usually sending them off to slaughter after six months.
The kids learned that hogs are the source of nearly 40 drugs and medical products, such as a heart valve for heart transplants, insulin hormone for diabetics and specially selected skin for some burn victims.
Perhaps one of the most engaging sessions was the one on global positioning systems. GPS is a navigation system that utilizes a network of orbiting satellites to pinpoint exact locations. Using hand-held devices, the students went on a treasure hunt for flags.
In recent years, farmers have begun to use the technology to auto-steer their tractors and improve crop production, said Greg Clark, an Extension crop systems educator in Whiteside County.
"It will plant a whole field without the farmer having to be in there," Clark said. "It relieves pressure and fatigue during planting and harvesting."
In addition, GPS devices can mark an area of a field with an insect or weed problem, so people can come back later and treat only the spots that need it, saving money and resources. The system also is effective in tracking yields and soil samples.
Reach Malinda Osborne at (815) 284-2222 or (800) 798-4085, ext. 526.
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