A-Mazing Ag Literacy efforts
Ag literacy efforts don 't always just take place in the classroom. Read about how Etsch Farms does their part to educate their community about agriculture.
Ag literacy efforts don’t always just take place in the classroom. Read about how Etsch Farms does their part to educate their community about agriculture.
For Monroe Township, New Jersey, farmer Caroline Etsch and her family, the most direct path to successfully diversifying the farm and expanding their revenue opportunities turned out to be a maze—a corn maze. Etsch, who grew up outside of New York City, married into agriculture and moved to her husband’s fourth-generation hay, straw and grain farm.
“About 12 years ago, my city friend recommended we do a corn maze,” Etsch explains. After a successful first year in 2005, Etsch and her family have continued to grow their agri-tourism venture.
Every third-grader in the town spends half a day at the farm, where I explain how the corn we grow fits into their lives,
Weekends in the fall the farm is open to the public, while the weekdays usually bring plenty of school children.
The maze is a fall activity, but there’s plenty of action in July and August when Etsch Farms hosts outdoor movies. Additionally, Farm Days for Kids brings children on the farm to learn first-hand about plants, animals and modern agriculture.
Thank you to Caroline Estch and her family for sharing their story of agriculture!
Find Etsch Farms online at http://www.etschfarms.com/events.html and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EtschFarms/.
Original story by: Erin Anthony - Editor, Farm Bureau News. Originally posted on fb.org here.
