Our theme this year, Cultivating Tomorrow, is a nod to education’s role in helping students understand where their food comes from and to consider a career in the agriculture and food production industry.

The virtual Farm Show offers daily STEM demonstrations and activities that can be done at home by K-12 students. Lessons include how to make butter, plant-based plastics, ice cream in a bag, a dairy color explosion, and bouncy eggs.

Virtual hands-on activities will include Plants to the Rescue and Plant Hunt, digital lessons for grades 6-8 provided by Seed Your Future career initiative, in partnership with Scholastic, Inc., including lessons titled Water Filtration, Grow Plants from Food Scraps, Tie Dye with Plants, DIY Home Hydroponics, and Phototropism: Light Maze.

Throughout the show, elementary and early secondary students can become AgExplorers by visiting virtual stations to learn about raising goats, sheep, rabbits, dairy, pork, and beef; organic agriculture, the environment, hardwoods, bees and honey, apple production, maple syrup, mushrooms, 4-H, plastic recycling, dog licensing and Christmas trees. Students visit each station, then take a quiz, which they can submit to enter a drawing for a Farm Show prize package.

For older students and adult learners, each day will include live webinars on business, technological, scientific and environmental challenges facing the industry, led by influential policy makers and experts in each topic, including solar energy, food security, pest control, emerging markets, sustainability, biosecurity and more. We hope you will incorporate the 2021 Farm Show into your virtual lesson plans in January.

In addition to these opportunities, we want to specifically call out a live panel discussion on Monday, January 11 at 10 AM targeted to high schoolers looking for their next step after graduation. This panel discussion will discuss the various career opportunities in agriculture. Panelists will include professionals in culinary, agriculture equipment mechanics, large animal veterinary services, farming, hydroponics, and horticulture. Students, educators, and families will have the opportunity to hear directly from those with experience in the field and learn about the educational and training requirements of the industry as well as information on current opportunities and projected job openings. Details on how to watch are in the Teacher’s Toolkit.

Please review the Teacher’s Toolkit in its entirety for a diverse offering of virtual learning opportunities for students K-12.