Dee Dee Gellerman - Manager

Menard County Farm Bureau
Petersburg, Illinois

2011 Summer Ag Institute

Twenty teachers from the Mason, Menard, and Sangamon county area attended this year’s Summer Ag Institute, sponsored by the Sangamon-Menard Agricultural Education Partnership, the Mason, Menard, and Sangamon County Farm Bureau, and the Logan, Menard, Sangamon Extension Unit.

The teachers participated in the four day workshop to learn more about current agricultural practices and how to use that knowledge to teach students in their schools and classrooms. Teachers spent part of the time touring local farms and agri-businesses to dispel the antiquated ideas that most people hold about farmers and farming and learn more about current techniques and methods. The farmers in Illinois and the United States are some of the most productive people on Earth. One U.S. farmer feeds approximately 135 people.

Teachers visited corn and soybean farms, learned about irrigation, visited a river terminal and a local grain elevator, learned about vineyards and wine making, talked to local produce farmers, visited pork and beef farms, learned about Christmas tree farming, and honey bees.

The teachers spent the remainder of their time in a classroom setting where they learned how to take their new knowledge and modify it for the grade level they teach. Presenters from Illinois Ag in the Classroom, University of Illinois Extension, and the FCAE (Facilitating Coordination in Agriculture Education) Project taught many lesson on how to use hands-on, science based activities to engage students in learning about the world around them and the farmers that produce their food and fiber.

The Summer Ag Institute is offered yearly, and interested people can contact Carrie Winkelmann at cjwinkel@illinois.edu or 753-4611.

Board Of Directors

The nine person Board of Directors sets the policies and goals of the Menard County Farm Bureau®. Officers for 2011 are: