Fifth and sixth graders from Pepin and St. Mary's listened to an introduction from Pepin County Conservationist Chase Cummings last week at Weiss Family Farms, for the semi-annual Conservation Field Days.

Local students attend fall Conservation Field Days

Area fifth and sixth graders once again had a chance to learn about conservation at the fall Conservation Field Days October 7-8, held at Weiss Family Farms outside of Durand.
The first field day event was held in the spring of 2011, and last week's event marked the eighth event.
"We have a rotation of activities," said Pepin County Conservationist Chase Cummings. "When a student comes in as a fifth-grader, they'll have the chance to attend four events in two years, so we don't want repeats."
Cummings said the conservation department comes up with activities that are different for each event. The last farm tour was at Auth Farms in the fall of 2012. Last week's event started the rotation over.
"The rotation makes it more fun for us, too, so we don't get stuck in a rut," Cummings said.
Students were able to take a farm tour, then learn about soil pits, crops and tillage, and soil conservation in three group activities through the day.
Weiss Family Farm was chosen for the event, as Pepin County was asked to host a soils training and land judging event, and needed a site with different soil types in close proximity.
"We thought we'd just do all of the events at the same place," Cummings said. "We approached the Weiss', and they were willing."
Conservation Program Specialist Pat Poeschel said the family was very open to hosting, and was very accomodating.
"They supplied milk and cheese curds for the kids, which was above and beyond what we asked of them," Cummings said. "Juhl's Johns also provided a porta-potty for the week."
Students rotated through activity stations throughout the day, and learned a variety of conservation-related things.
In the soil pit activitity, Cummings said students learned about what soil is.
"We talked about the horizons in a soil profile, and the importance of each part," he said. "Kids also got to make their own model soil profiles. This exposes them to what's underneath their feet."
Derrick Bauer from Top Tier Excavating dug the soil pit, Poeschel said.
In the tillage station, students looked at the impacts of soil erosion, including residue, slope, and rain impact.
"We did residue checks," Cummings said. "We had tractors with tillage equipment out there, so kids got to determine how much residue was left after tillage to determine erosion."
Cummings said some kids had never been in a tractor or combine, and other tools were on hand to let the kids play in the soil.
Students also learned about erosion and soil health after tillage and other farm practices.
"They learned that good quality soil lets in more water, and the water is cleaner," Cummings said. "If there is a lot of tillage, there's less infiltration, and more runoff."
Cummings said students also looked at what's in the runoff, and where it goes, and they were able to track it to the Gulf of Mexico.
Cummings said the activities are mostly soils, crops, and water quality-related. Students included fifth and sixth graders from St. Mary's and Pepin, and fifth graders from Arkansaw Elementary School. A total of about 115 kids participated in the field days.
Conservation Field Days was put on this year by conservation agencies, including Land Conservation, NRCS, and FSA.
"We already have ideas in the works for the spring," Cummings said. "It'll probably involve looking at stream stuff and groundwater quality."
Cummings said the Weiss family really went out of their way to help educate the students.
"It was a great farm experience," Poeschel said.
The morning started with a tour that went full-circle around the farm.
"The kids got to see where the crops grew, how the crops feed the cattle, the cows, milking, and waste," he said. "Everything cycles around."
Poeschel said Don and Collette Weiss were able to visit each activity station to see what was going on, too.
"It was really nice that they took the time to see what we were doing," she said.
Tony Garner, a teacher at Pepin Area Schools, said he thought the event was very well planned out and organized.
" It is always a great opportunity to get outside of the school setting to learn science oriented material that will be beneficial to the students throughout their lives," he said. " I thought the students enjoyed the activities and came away from them with an extra sense of what it takes for conservation to work in different areas."
Garner said it's always nice for the students to get hands-on stuff outside of the curriculum books.
"I thought it was a very beneficial experience and am thankful to the Pepin County staff for taking the time and committment to put this day on for the students in Pepin County."
Garner said it was also great of the Weiss family for allowing them to visit and tour the farm.
"All the students seemed to have enjoyed conservation day," he said.
Arkansaw Elementary teacher Tony Hansen also said it was an excellent opportunity to view a working farm.
"Not just the animals and milking, but what it takes to make successful crops through proper soil conservation practices," he said. "The demonstrations put on by the NRCS were very helpful in understanding conservation on a small scale, then relating it to the farm fieflds."
Hansen said for most of his students, it was the first time they had been on a large-scale dairy operation.
"There were lots of questions by the students about the farm and farm equipment," he said. "They even enjoyed the smell."
Hansen also said all of the activities were very educational.
"And, of course, the farm tour was educational on how cows are fed and how much they are fed, to how they handle the manure, to how they feed the young cattle, and to how the cows are milked," he said.

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