While the familiar sounds of animals were distant, the sounds of joyous children echoed through the Lloyd Ex as kids packed into the building for Ag Education Day.
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The yearly event takes place in April and brings in kids from all over the region.
“This year we had 1,147 kids from rural schools and all the school divisions,” said Peggy Latchuk, director of the exhibition who has chaired the committee behind this event for more than 25 years.
She says the event features exclusively Grade 1 and 2s.
“It’s part of their curriculum that they have some farming classes and so this is part of their day,” she said.
The Ex set up a display on April 22 that mimicked a grocery store, teaching children which farm products end up on local shelves.
“Everything that was here is talked about on the grain table, or the swine, the beef, the sheep, the poultry,” said Latchuk. “Everything else that they would have seen when they’ve gone shopping with mom.”
Kids then had the opportunity to tour around and see displays with different animals and speakers explaining what was there.
“There’s a speaker, and either the product or the animal that they’re talking about at each section,” she said, noting they cover topics like pigs, beef cattle, dairy cattle, light horse, grain, poultry and sheep.
“There’s one-day-old chicks they get to pet, there’s wool they get to touch and there’s some artificial cows they get to milk.”
She recalled some comments a kid made as he was entering the venue.
“There was a little guy that just came in the last session. He walked by the pig and said ‘isn’t that the cutest moose you’ve ever seen?'” said Latchuk. “That’s his reality because he hasn’t seen it before.”
The message of the day is to get kids out there to learn more about where food comes from.
“We just want them to know there’s a farm that’s growing and maintaining their food supply,” she said.
She says it’s great people can go to grocery stores and get what they need. However, learning about the process, can go a long way.
“You just need a little enlightenment and to spark your interest. That makes you want to learn more about it. It just shows you that the producers are all local people,” said Latchuk.
That spark of interest could lead them anywhere in the future.
“You might be a vet tech, you might decide to have some chickens in your backyard, who knows where it could lead,” she said.
Latchuk noted that while government sponsorship and community support make the event possible, the goal is to expand to a two-day format.
Those interested in supporting future iterations can contact the Lloyd Ex directly.
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