My family and I have a few big transitions happening this year...we are moving to the family farm, and I will be transitioning to Clear Creek Amana as a middle school ag teacher. Change can be scary but also very exciting! I am beyond thankful for my time with Ag in the Classroom and all of the experiences it has granted me. It is hard to believe that this will be my last blog post with Linn County Farm Bureau. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past 6 years! The Linn County Education Outreach Program was established in 2017 to connect students to agriculture. As we wrap up another year, I can honestly say we are blooming in agriculture, and I am honored to be part of such a thriving program. We are bridging gaps between our local farmers and urban communities. More than ever, people are interested in knowing where their food comes from... we see towns allowing backyard chickens, we see community gardens growing during the heat of summer and we see families wanting to get back outside. This is a great time to be sharing our story of agriculture. In the last 6 years I have had the opportunity to reach thousands of students through our monthly ag program, work with others to create programs/publications, and inspire teachers about the importance of agriculture through our teacher workshops! I have also been able to conduct some PRETTY AWESOME FarmChats; including bison vs beef, ISU football sod, tilapia fish farming, Florida oranges, crickets for food, pork production, planting season, milk goats, turkey production, hatching, coffee, and more. This position has also taken me to Ames, Des Moines, Arkansas, Kansas City and Orlando! I have stepped out of my comfort zone to speak at both state and national conferences, to write about ag related topics on the blog and for the Spokesman local pages, work with a variety of age groups, and design lesson plans covering topics about wheat, beef, GMOs, economy, hydroponics, hatching, baseball, pollination, pumpkins, compost, soil, water, nitrogen, ag careers, cover crops, conservation, dairy, corn, soybeans, watersheds, geography and more! I am not sure words can fully express how thankful I am that I was given the opportunity to build up our Linn County Education Outreach Program. I hold so much gratitude for the wide variety of knowledge, skills and experiences this role has granted me. I have put my all into this position, so many hours of dedication went into creating the program we have today, and I am so excited to watch the program continue to expand. I have left the program in the hands of a board that believes in its mission and for that I am so thankful. I am looking forward to continuing my mission to #teachag. If you would like to stay in touch, my email address is morganleeball@gmail.com and my personal website is Flowers & Beef | HB Farms | Tiffin

Minute to Win it Ag Edition Summer Activities! By popular request, our Minute to Win it Ag Edition summer activities are now available to download! This year's summer theme is Minute to Win it! Each month we will post different activities that correspond to the monthly theme. Along with the minute challenge, you will receive a worksheet for each activity and an Ag mag that matches the theme. The Minute to Win it challenges and complimentary activities will provide a real-world connection to agriculture. Have fun and explore the importance of ag in our great state! Iowa is a leading state for many agricultural commodities and by offering Agriculture in the Classroom we can create real-world STEM opportunities. In June we will explore the many commodities we grow in Iowa and their importance to our everyday lives. Listed below are the activities for June! -Ag Bracelet: Students will explore many of Iowa’s commodities in agriculture by making an ag bracelet in a fun and competitive way. Farms vary in Iowa and across the world. Farmers may raise many types of plants and animals, while others specialize in just one or two things. Corn, pigs, dairy, beef, soybeans, and chickens are all related to agriculture in many ways and are raised by farmers worldwide! Iowa ranks high in the following commodities: Corn - Dent or field corn makes up 99% of the corn planted in Iowa. This is primarily used for livestock feed, ethanol, and manufactured goods. Pigs - There are 20 million more pigs in Iowa than people! There are pig farmers in every Iowa county. Dairy cattle - Iowa ranks 12th in total milk production nationally and 8th in milk production per cow. Beef cattle - Cattle are raised in all 99 Iowa counties and as of January 1, 2022, all cattle and calves totaled 3.85 million head. Soybeans - Iowa farmers rank second nationally in soybean production and have become a major crop in Iowa. Chickens - Iowa produces enough eggs to provide an egg a day for the world for 2 days. -Bean Bounce: Students will learn all about soybeans through an interactive and fun activity. Soybeans are used in many ways in agriculture. They are a highly valuable legume crop that aids in nitrogen reducing the need for nitrogen fertilizers. They are also an excellent source of protein production. Soybeans are used for livestock feed, biodiesel, vegetable oil, meat alternatives, and soy milk. 70 percent of the soybeans grown in the United States are used for animal feed. -Breakfast Scramble: Students will explore the Iowa Commodities commonly used to make our favorite cereals! Iowa Agriculture makes up a variety of different foods that we eat everyday. This is no different from what we eat for breakfast. Cereal comes from a variety of different products that are produced by local farmers. Soybeans and Corn are two very common commodities that are planted in Iowa Soil and used in many cereals and other food products around the world. Oooo sounds like fun! Let's begin! Complimentary Ag Mags Ag Mags & Readers (agintheclassroom.org) Additional June resources: Linn County Education Outreach - YouTube Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation - YouTube Flat Aggie Adventures | mysite (linncoag.com) Be sure to let us know what you think of our June Minute to Win it activities!

We had fun touring Gym-N-Eat Crickets LLC for our spring FarmChat! It was so fascinating to learn all about how Shelby raises crickets for human consumption! Shelby Smith is originally from Ames, Iowa where she grew up on a corn and soybean farm. She moved to Ireland to play basketball after graduating from Saint Joseph's University in Philidelphia. After working in the bank industry for a few years, Shelby felt called to move back to Iowa. In 2017, Shelby's dad encouraged her to explore niche farming as a way to add value to their conventional row crop operation. In 2018 she landed on crickets and by January 10th, she had ordered her first 10,000 crickets. Shelby is very passionate about lifting, running and biking. Her logo design shows a cricket lifting heavy weights. Crickets are rich in protein and can provide many nutritional benefits. Gym-Eat-Crickets strives in producing high quality crunchy snacks, cricket bars and protein powder. Why eat crickets? 60% protein by volume High in calcium Source of omega-6 and omega-3 High in iron Gluten free Contains B12 Low in fat Visit her FAQs for more information FAQs | Gymneatcrickets We have created a few worksheets to compliment the video! Download them below. Cricket review: All about crickets: How do crickets grow?

Written by Josie Korte, 2023 AITC Intern The Flat Aggie Adventures is a 6 series of newsletters informing youth about agriculture-related topics. The Flat Aggie Newsletter series originated in 2018 as a way to increase agriculture education among young students. This idea came from Flat Stanley which is an American children’s book series written by Jeff Brown. According to the Flat Stanley Project, “The goal of the project is to increase reading and writing skills as well as expose students to different places.” This goal was the same for us because we want to expose kids to different parts of agriculture while also teaching them new vocabulary and concepts. This year our series will inform students about different parts of the beef industry; careers, handling, breeds, cow/calf, feedlots, and processing are all part of the beef industry! Each of the newsletters focuses on an important sector of the beef industry. Newsletters include accurate facts and photos. Students can use Flat Aggies to explore and learn about different parts of the beef industry. Our Flat Aggie Adventures newsletter series allows students to use STEM-based skills. Teachers can implement these skills into their core curriculum in many different ways and can be utilized by students of all ages. These newsletters will introduce students to new vocabulary terms, information about sectors of the beef industry, fun facts, and Flat Aggie will intrigue them to learn more. Here are a few ways you can incorporate Flat Aggie newsletters in your classrooms: Ways to utilize Flat Aggie: 1. Print it off and have students write and highlight key points. 2. Print and laminate for multiple uses. 3. Keep the newsletter in online format and send to the students or display it in front of the class. Ways to integrate Flat Aggie into your curriculum: 1. Guided reading time 2. Morning bell ringer 3. Science time 4. Individual reading time 5. Research project 6. pizz-A-thon 7. High Steaks Beef Competition Discussion topics for integration: 1. Identify the STEM careers involved with growing corn and soybeans. 2. Discuss how advances in agriculture have changed production over time. 3. Explore supply and demand and how it relates to our grain industry. 4. Ask students to identify key ideas. 5. Discover the different stages in the life-cycle of an Iowa commodity. Edition 1 focuses on cow/calf production! Flat Aggie explores calving season, weaning and taking care of babies! Edition 2 focuses on cattle feedlots. A feedlot or feed yard is a large fenced in area where cattle are kept and fed on a diet of grains until they are sent to be processed into meat. Flat Aggie tours a feedlot to learn all about the history and production of cattle for beef. Edition 3 focuses on beef breeds. There are three main breeds of beef cattle in Iowa! Flat Aggie tours around Iowa and the United States to explore the differences. Cattlemen look for certain characteristics when considering genetics! Edition 4 focuses on beef processing. Flat Aggie learns about pre-handling care and how stress can impact the quality of meat. It is important to keep the cattle calm and healthy before being processed. Did you know 98% of the beed cow is utilized after being processed? Edition 5 focuses on cattle handling and careers. Flat Aggie discovers that there are many different careers within the beef industry. He also explores the proper way to handle cattle to ensure the safety of the farmer and cow. Edition 6 focuses on nutrition for both the animal and human! Flat Aggie explores what goes into a feed ration for the cattle and how beef provides humans with essential nutrients! Download the complete series here:

Josie wraps up her spring internship with us. It was so much fun getting to know Josie and we thank her for all of the hard work she put in! Read about her experience below! As I’m finishing the last days of my internship, I’m reflecting on everything that I have learned, completed, and improved on in the last 10 weeks. I came into this internship hoping to gain new experiences inside and outside of the classroom. I learned a variety of different things throughout the 10 weeks. Through the internship, I completed a Flat Aggie series about the beef industry, Summer STEM kits, and a variety of articles and lesson activities. My first main project was the Flat Aggie Adventures Series. The theme for 2023 focused on the beef industry and included the following topics: cow/calf, feed yard, breeds, processing, handling, careers, and nutrition. I researched the overall topic, found fun facts, and incorporated photos. I also made sure to add a joke of the day for each edition. Once I finished each edition, I sent them to Morgan for corrections and edits on the topics I had chosen. Once the final changes were made I continued to the next topic. It was no surprise that I enjoyed writing and designing graphics relating to the beef industry since I grew up on a beef farm. Growing up on a beef farm I had a good base of knowledge, but I still did a lot of research to ensure I was putting the most accurate information in the Flat Aggie Newsletter Series. My second project was the summer STEM kits. I worked with the Delaware and Buchanan County intern to complete this project. To start the kits we picked a theme and then we met over Zoom to continue discussing the outline of the kits. We split each month in half between the two of us to ensure that we took an equal part in the STEM kits. The theme, Minute to Win It, focuses on engaging students with agriculture by connecting a fun Minute to Win it challenges with where the supplies come from. Each month had four Minute to Win It activities, complimentary worksheets, and an ag mag. June focuses on Iowa commodities. A few activities include an ag bracelet and the bean bounce. Along with those I made two worksheets, this was my favorite part because it gave me a chance to be more creative and make different worksheets that we haven’t used before. For July, students will explore livestock in Iowa. A few activities include an egg race and a wordsmith. For the last month, students will dig into, soil, flowers, and water. A couple of the activities in this particular kit include a whipped cream worm search and an ag word battle. The whipped cream worm search was my personal favorite because it was different from all the other activities that we did and was the most fun for the students! This experience made me step out of my comfort zone, helped me to learn many new things, and gave me in-person experiences at different schools in Linn and Benton County. I loved to see the students learn about different kinds of agriculture through fun activities and helping teach the lessons. This helped me with my public speaking by making me step out of my comfort zone to present in front of groups of all different ages and sizes. I think my biggest takeaway is realizing just how important it is to inform students about agriculture because while it may be common knowledge to people who grow up around it, many people are generations removed from agriculture. This was also the reason why I loved this job. Since the kids tend not to know much about agriculture, it is amazing to watch them be so fascinated by the things we just know off the top of our heads. Lastly, I would like to give a huge thank you to the Board of Directors and Rob, Morgan, Paige, and Alaina for including me in the Ag in the Classroom Program this year. I enjoyed every experience they gave me, and I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity. This opportunity helped me learn and grow so much in 10 weeks. I will take everything I learned to help me continue to grow throughout college and my future job.

Chris McGovern is a row crop and beef farmer in Linn County, Iowa. Join us as we interview Chris to learn all about planting season. In this FarmChat, we will explore the parts of a planter and how seeds germinate! ***Scroll to the bottom of this blog post to download our complimentary worksheets! First let's talk about corn! 99% of corn grown is field corn, only 1% is sweet corn! 72% of Iowa is used as cropland! Hogs are the top livestock consumer of corn in Iowa. 1 bushel of corn produces 2.8 gallons of ethanol! Graphic is from Iowacorn.org Okay now time for our Day in the Life FarmChat video: Download the following worksheets to enhance student learning! 1. Parts of a planter 2. Corn Lifecycle Worksheet 3. Review Worksheet We hope you had a blast learning all about corn! Leave a comment below with your feedback!

We love the chance to celebrate our Iowa farmers, and with May being National Beef Month, we want to shout out our Linn County beef producers. Thank you for all that you do! As of January 1, 2022, the USDA estimated Iowa to have 925,000 head of beef cows, putting beef cattle as Iowa’s second leading source of livestock income. The beef industry is structured with cow/calf operations and feedlots. A cow/calf farm raises both the mama cow and baby calf. The calf is weaned at about 400+ lbs and is transferred to a feedlot or pasture where they will be fed to market size. Some farmers may focus on breeding stock for future generations. Beef is a well-loved meat product not only in the Midwest, but across the world. Beef is a great source of protein that provides our body with nine essential nutrients. Beef cattle also have hundreds of byproducts that we use everyday! These byproducts allow us to support our beef farmers outside of the consumption of meat – from soaps to plastics to medicines, beef byproducts are everywhere! The U.S. is home to only 10% of the world’s cattle inventory, but produces nearly 25% of the world’s beef supply! When it comes to processing, beef byproducts utilize 99% of the animal, meaning that nothing is wasted. Cattle provide us with so much! One cowhide can make 12 basketballs or 144 baseballs or 20 footballs. The NFL uses footballs made from real cowhide. It typically takes an average of 3,000 cow hides to supply the NFL for one year! See the below image for more information on beef byproducts: To celebrate National Beef Month, here are a few informative and engaging lessons to help educate your students about beef farming! The Amazing Beef Cow (ages PreK/Kg): https://www.linncoag.com/may Build a Better Corral (ages 4th/5th): https://www.linncoag.com/may Ag Web (age 3rd): https://www.linncoag.com/september Parts of a Cow (ages 1st/2nd): https://www.pinterest.com/pin/660058889121642186/ Dot-to-Dot (ages toddler/Kg): https://rosiereader.com/dot-to-dot-cow/

Processing to Consumer Manchester, IA June 19 (8:00am-5:00pm) and June 20 (8:00am-4:00pm), 2023 This fast-paced professional development will give teachers, extension personnel, and others who educate youth the skills they need to implement many of the new Iowa Core science and social studies standards. Using agriculture as the context to teach standards, course participants will integrate agriculture into science, social studies, language arts and math to make learning real and relevant for students. Participants will leave the workshop with instructional strategies, lessons, and activities that can be immediately implemented into their classroom with little or no additional effort. Student engagement and impact will be high with hands-on learning. During one day of the course participants will learn about how agricultural products are grown and raised as they tour a farm and a feed mill. Participants will explore farm-to-table concepts of care and processing agricultural goods as they tour a vineyard and a meat locker. A second day of the course will focus on implementing lessons learned, connecting learning to science and social studies, and making it relevant to student learners. Participants will learn about the impacts of using cover crops in Iowa, the cultivation and harvesting of grapes, and more. This workshop is hosted by Delaware, Buchanan, and Linn Co. Farm Bureau in collaboration with the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation. Fees & Credit: The two-day in-person workshop is free to attend and includes on-site tours, hands-on activities, resource materials, lunches and more! One licensure renewal credit is available from AEA for $35. One graduate credit is available through Drake University, Grandview University, and Morningside College for $130. Register to attend: Registration can be done online by creating an account in the Professional Learning Registration System. Once an account is created (which could take up to 24 hours), login and search for course number 205211. Then follow the links to register for the course. Processing to Consumer is one of ten summer workshops hosted by the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation. For a complete list of dates and locations visit: https://www.iowaagliteracy.org/tools-resources/general/professional-development

WRITTEN BY JOSIE KORTE National Ag week is a week dedicated to celebrating Ag for one full week in the spring. National Ag Week is held from March 21st to the 27th. The purpose of the week is to acknowledge, celebrate, and give thanks to the ag industry. The Agriculture Council of America, formed in 1973, announces the dates each year. This council is a nonprofit organization that supports farmers and agricultural advancements while also working together to educate the world on the importance of agriculture. When the council was first formed, they also introduced the first National Agriculture Day. This one day was quickly changed to a week-long celebration that is celebrated every year. National Agriculture week promotes the ag industry, spreads awareness, and also honors the farmers in this industry. It helps promote agriculture by connecting the general consumer to agriculture. Agvocacy is advanced by demonstrating ag as a good source of income and career expansion to our local communities. This one week spreads awareness about the importance for people to continue to explore and appreciate the agriculture industry and the value it creates for all of us. There is a gap that continues to widen due to a decrease in the number of people employed in production ag. Lastly and most important to remember, it honors the farmers and all people in the ag industry! This is our way to show the appreciation we have for them and all that they do. Did you know? Today every farmer feed 144 people compared to 1 farmer feeding 25 people in the 1960s. This is all possible because of the technological advancements and changes in the way we farm today. There are 22 million people employed in the agriculture sector working every day to increase the number to accompany the growing world. There are many ways you can promote agriculture this week. You could attend a local event, many organizations put on events that you can participate in or just attend. In many schools, FFA chapters do something daily this week, such as ag trivia in the morning announcements or petting zoos. 4-H youth may explain what their projects have to do with agriculture or the impact their organization has on agriculture for the youth. Another way is through social media, by sharing the importance of agriculture and your contribution to spreading awareness!

Grab a piece of paper and your favorite color and draw a celebratory picture – March 31st is National Crayon Day! Crayons are a fan favorite for parents, teachers, and children alike! They’re less messy than markers, improve fine motor skills, and help children safely express their creativity. While crayons are extremely well-loved, they go by fast. It’s estimated that by the time children turn 10 years old, they have worn down over 700 crayons. Rather than waste these leftover crayons, many schools and individuals have resorted to recycling them. They’re sent to businesses who melt down the used crayons to create new ones, often in fun shapes and mixed colors. Reshaping crayons can also be more beneficial for special-education students who have trouble gripping regular crayons. A key component to making crayons is soybean oil! Using soybeans in products creates many additional benefits. Adding soybean oil to crayons make them less flakey and allow them to glide easier while coloring. They also brighten the colors and are less toxic to children. Another benefit is that soy crayons are biodegradable and even edible – although they may not taste great! It’s common for little ones to curiously munch on things, such as crayons, but there’s no need to fret when they’re made of soy. To celebrate this national holiday, print off one of the coloring pictures below and let your creativity run wild!

Join us we tour Jason’s farm to learn about wind energy and the differences between a windmill and turbine. Wind is a natural resource that we use to produce electricity which is similar to other goods and services that come from agriculture. Students will explore how windmills can be used to do work and convert wind energy to mechanical energy. Centuries ago, windmills were used to mill grain, pump water, or both. Windmills provided the power to turn large stones that were used in grinding grain. This mechanical power turned wheat, barley, corn and other grains into flour. Windmills were also attached to a well and used to pump underground water up to the surface. These types of windmills use the power of the wind to do work. Modern turbines harness the power of the wind and convert it into electricity. Students will explore the similarities and differences! Vocabulary: Windmill: a machine that uses blades to convert the energy of wind into rotational energy (energy that moves in a circle) Wind turbine: a device that converts the wind's kinetic energy (energy from movement) into electrical energy. Electricity: Using electrical power to energize equipment Wind speed: a measure of how fast the wind blows, usually measured in MPH Wind capacity: a measure of wind energy potential MPH (miles per hour): a measure of speed, how many hours an object could travel in one hour Jason raises weaned to finish hogs on his farm in Iowa. He has been raising pigs for about twenty years in the hog buildings you see in the video. 15,000 pigs make their way through Jason's farm each year. To properly care for those pigs, Jason needs access to quite a bit of electricity. To help cut down on costs and to operate more efficiently, Jason has both wind and solar energy on his farm. With the size of wind turbine on Jason's farm, he can provide electricity to about 50-60 homes! The wind turbine is 150 feet tall and the blades span 64 feet across. The location needs to be pretty open and free of obstacles. Jason's is a 50K Watt Turbine, but there are different sizes depending on the use. Just to give you some perspective, a light bulb uses about 8 watts of power. Wow! A 50,000-watt turbine can power a lot of light bulbs! Continue watching the video to learn more! I have included a few resources below to accompany the video! 1. My Family's Wind Farm: 2. Windmills Vs. Wind Turbines 3. Ag Mag: Energy

The average household uses synthesized rubber products everyday. Rubber is in things like hair-ties, toys, tires, welcome mats, shoes, gloves, rain boots, mattresses, and so much more! While we use rubber products everyday, few people know how it’s made. Natural rubber is made from latex plants. Most commonly, latex can be found from the “rubber tree” but it can be found in nearly 10% of all plants! Latex is a natural milky fluid found in many plants and aids in sealing open wounds and protecting itself from insects. While latex is in many plants, natural rubber isn’t always contained in that latex. Most natural rubber harvested today comes from the Para՛ rubber tree which is typically grown in Southeast Asia. To harvest latex, the tree’s bark is cut down the center. A strip of bark is removed and a shallow cut is made. This allows the liquid latex to seep out for collection – this process may remind you of tapping for sap in maple trees! It’s important for the collecting process to take place on sunny or cloudy days. Rain can dilute the latex and ruin the product. Once the latex is collected in buckets, it’s mixed with a variety of chemicals that keeps the latex at the desired consistency. The clumpy latex is then sent through various rollers to help remove water and thin the sheets. Sometimes during this stage, colors are mixed into the latex. Once rolled, the sheets are dried and smoked! Finally, the latex is prevulcanized, which makes the product easier to transport. When harvesting latex, farmers continue to cut in the same section or panel of bark for six years. After six years, they will switch to a different panel, which gives the previous section plenty of time to heal from the shallow cut. Trees will stop being harvested for latex after 24 years. After 24 years, these trees are often cut down and used for wood. In its place, a new rubber tree is planted.