Mike Naig visits Ag Education Center

By Nate Troy
Sports Editor
 
 CRESCO - Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig visited the Reicks View Ag Education Center at the Howard County Fairgrounds on Friday, June 2.
During his tour of the facility, he visited with Tom Barnes, Howard County Fair Board Secretary; Sue Barnes, Iowa State Extension; Dallas Linkenmeyer, Howard County Extension Council member; farmers Tim Huhe, Jennifer Bronner and Mike Bronner; and Tim Sadler and Dale Reicks of Reicks View Farms.
After Naig was introduced, he asked about the background of the facility and how well it works for everyone.
“In 2016, we started the swine program here,” Tom Barnes noted. “The dairy program started in 2019.”
Tim Huhe discussed the dairy program.
“For us, we’ve always shown cattle,” Huhe said. “Then, we started to show dairy and we expanded. We heard that people were uneducated about dairy, so we decided we wanted to make a difference.
“We started with a group of kids and we showed them all the angles of the dairy industry. They come out to the farm. We teach them how to raise a baby calf all the way through — including the expense and cost. When they come back, they need to prove to us that they can milk cows.
“The calves we have here (in the facility), we’ve had since May 1. The kids learn how to select a calf and how to care for them. For me the big payoff (last year) was seeing three high school seniors and one junior in the program since it started. The kids milked the cows during the duration of the fair. 
“No matter what they do during the rest of their lives, they have the understanding of time committment and they learn life-long lessons,” Huhe said.
“Even if that doesn’t lead to anything (in farming), they will never forget that experience,” Naig noted.
Sue Barnes told Naig that during the summer, each member in the program will have the opportunity to deliver a calf.
Sadler talked about the swine program.
“The swine program is similar to dairy,” he said. “Each student can take care of one pig or four pigs. This year, we have 17 kids. The arena is set up so the kids can bring their pigs out and practice (caring for them).
“There are six classes available. The kids need to attend at least four of the six. They include: nutrition, veterinarian, careers, showmanship, closeout and feed mill. We want the kids to have fun and enjoy the process,” Sadler said.
“How do things work operationally?” Naig asked. “I know the pigs are being fed every day but the students are not here every day. What happens then?”
“I do the chores every day,” Sadler said. “The students have an option to come three or four times per week to care for their pig or pigs.”
Sue Barnes noted that the Reicks View Ag Educational Center is opened up to the public during fair week.
Naig said that he has talked to Iowa farmers who have taken their kids to county fairs so their kids could learn about cows and pigs.
“We can’t assume that just because someone grows up on a farm, they know everything about farming,” Naig said.
Tom Barnes told an interesting story that happened during the 2019 Mighty Howard County Fair.
“We try to get some cows who can (birth) a calf during the fair but that’s tricky,” Barnes noted. “We had people watching the birthing pen. There was one lady from New Jersey visiting. She was watching the process and you could she was getting emotional. She told someone (at the fair) she never thought in her life she would get to see an animal born.”
Naig noted that it’s great to have that facility at the fairgrounds so people can understand where their food comes from and the time and effort the farmers put in to the process.
He concluded his visit by talking with students who were caring for their cows in the pens.

Cresco Times

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