Eighth-grade students from Cambria Heights Middle School had the opportunity to learn about the full cycle of planting and harvesting crops on Thursday. The students visited Yahner Brothers Farm, which is located next to the school, to see the corn that they watched be planted in the spring and see how the summer's weather impacted the crop's growth.
Students were able to see how some of the corn was not properly pollinated due to the dry conditions. They also learned about the different farming practices that are used to produce corn, such as planting, irrigating, and harvesting.
After the tour, the students enjoyed a farm-to-table lunch with corn donated from Himmel's Farms and hamburger meat donated from Yahner Brothers Farm.
Tommy Nagle, vice president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, said that this was the first time for the event with the students at Cambria Heights, and he hopes to make it an annual venture.
Nagle said that it was a great opportunity to show kids where food actually comes from, and that it was a great opportunity for kids to get out into the field themselves.
Marty Yahner, of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and Yahner Brothers Farm, said that opportunities such as this expose youth to the work that farmers do and the struggles that it entail.
Yahner noted that only 1.5% of Americans are farmers, and he believes that it is important for children to learn about where their food comes from.
Superintendent Kenneth J. Kerchenske said that in the spring students were also able to learn about farming as it relates to technology.
Evan Thomas expressed his excitement about seeing the corn. He had never done anything like this before.
Student Kylee Karlheim had similar thoughts.
She found it really cool to see it all happen and had a lot of fun.
Karlheim said that seeing the poor harvest changed her outlook on food production.
"Seeing how they did this small row a lot of it didn't plant," she said. "It just goes to show how they have one year of the whole entire field that's planted and a lot of it might not even turn out right."
The students' visit to Yahner Brothers Farm was a valuable learning experience that helped them to appreciate the hard work and dedication that goes into producing food. It also gave them a better understanding of the challenges that farmers face.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-frankvandenbergh
Categories: Pennsylvania, Education