Photo by Jenny Kirk Yellow Medicine East’s Bert Raney Elementary School fourth graders are all smiles as they lock arms and head to the next Yellow Medicine County Ag in the Classroom station on Wednesday at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Granite Falls.

GRANITE FALLS — Yellow Medicine County’s Ag in the Classroom engaged about 300 fourth-grade students throughout the two-day event held this week at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Granite Falls.

“I think it is very cool,” 10-year-old Clarkfield Area Charter School Tadan Bayless said of the event. “I just finished the dairy one and learned about cattle. And the soybean one was cool. I didn’t know there were a whole bunch of things made out of soybeans.”

Along with soybeans and dairy, the students had the opportunity to learn about turkeys, corn, beef, pork, conservation, electricity and farm safety.

“It’s nice that all the presenters are from the industry they’re presenting on,” said Eric Jahn, a St. Leo farmer who is on the Yellow Medicine County board for Minnesota Soybean Growers Association.

Jahn said he’s been a soybean presenter during the five years he’s volunteered his time, but that he was accompanying students to the nine different stations this year.

“I’ve been on both sides of it, being a presenter and also sitting with the classes,” he said. “The students are doing a lot of learning and doing a lot of interacting. They’re enjoying it and it’s teaching them a lot of things.”

Yellow Medicine Soybean Growers Association representatives Josh Peterson, Ross Eischens and Steve Brusven shared their knowledge with the fourth graders this year.

“There are a lot of uses for soybeans,” Peterson said to a classroom full of students from True Light Christian School in Marshall. “The No. 1 use of soybean meal is for livestock feed. The soybeans are crushed to get the meal. It feeds a lot of livestock.”

The students learned that hogs were the No. 1 user of soybeans, but that the soybean meal is also used for turkeys, chickens and other livestock. Peterson said soybeans are also used for oil.

“A lot of your cooking oils have soybeans in them,” he said. “Oil is also refined and put into biodiesel.”

After watching a video, students recalled that soybeans are often used in crayons, chapstick, milkshakes, burritos, tacos and cake.

“We need someone who is interested in growing soybeans to maybe change the ingredients out to have more protein or more oil,” Brusven said.

“Maybe you guys want to be another George Washington Carver. He made 300 different uses out of soybeans. We need to have scientists. We need to have nutritionalists. We need people who are going to feed the pigs, chickens and cows and give the right nutrition to them. We also need agronomists that are going to help us get better yields so we can feed more people.”

Peterson shared that the average bushel per acre in Minnesota is 50.

“A lot of soybeans are grown in Minnesota,” he said. “Most of them are exported right now, but we do grow a lot of soybeans. Most of the time, you plant your soybeans in April and May and try to harvest them in October.”

Along with the True Light Christian School and Clarkfield Area Charter students, fourth graders from Yellow Medicine East’s Bert Raney Elementary School were in attendance on Wednesday.

Among the area schools on Tuesday were students from Canby Public, St. Peter’s Catholic School, Dawson-Boyd, Minneota Public and Lakeview.

“We were supposed to have 305 students between the two days,” said Roger Dale of Hanley Falls. “We do Ag in the Classroom so the kids realize where their food comes from. A lot of farm kids don’t even realize where their food comes from.”

Dale and his wife, Joanne, sparked the concept for Ag in the Classroom over 30 years ago after a teacher from Cottonwood asked them to bring their soybean display into her classroom.

“We had it set up for an annual elevator meeting and so we brought it in for her students in the late 80s,” Dale said. “The next year, she wanted us to bring it in and talk to the kids. That’s how all of this got started.”

Two years later, corn presentations were added with the help of Doug Albin and Don Louwagie.

“We went to a lot of schools,” Dale said. “We spent a whole day in the Marshall schools for different classes. We were doing that over a week’s time. Then it got too much.”

Ag in the Classroom then expanded to have area students come to Clarkfield School for many years.

“This round-robin deal was done there,” Dale said. “When that school there dissolved, we came here (to Minnesota West). We’re very fortunate. This is a beautiful place. And the reason we do the event now is because it’s spring break.”

While Dale was instrumental in the educational effort and served as co-chair for many years, he’s passed some of the work on to others. Clarkfield farmer Carl Louwagie has been the event chair for the past few years.

“It’s hard to let go,” Dale said. “I want to keep it going. Carl’s a super guy. I couldn’t ask for a better guy to work with.”

The two organizers are quick to praise the presenters who generously donate their time and knowledge every year — first one day and now two.

“There’s nine different commodity groups represented,” Louwagie said. “It seems like the presenters look forward to coming. It’s great that they get out and show everybody what they have and what they do. We need people willing to share their knowledge and experience.”

Wood Lake dairy producer Jane Remiger is a regular volunteer at the event.

“I usually tell the kids about the life of dairying and not so much about the good qualities of milk,” Remiger said. “I tell them more about who we are, how we take care of our cows and why we love it.”

YME Ag teacher and FFA adviser Darrel Refsland, intern Amy French and 13 FFA members also pitched in to help throughout the event on Wednesday.

“They do an awesome job,” Louwagie said.

While the fourth-grade students, their teachers and their chaperones bring their own lunches, Fagen Inc. donates money for the milk and cookies those in attendance enjoy during the morning break. Students also receive bright yellow T-shirts, which are paid for by the Yellow Medicine Corn Growers Association, Yellow Medicine Soybean Growers Association and Farm Bureau — Yellow Medicine, Lyon and Lac qui Parle counties.

“I think it went very well,” Louwagie said. “I think we’re down a little bit in attendance from last year, but it ebbs and flows with the class sizes. We had the same schools back this year.”