Featuring a variety of plants and animals with presenters representing each, this year’s Agriculture day (AG day) hosted by Future Farmers of America (FFA), occurred Oct.19.

As an organization, FFA strives to educate those who may not know about things outside of everyday practices, such as farm life and the animals associated with it, according to Lake Reid, a junior at RBHS.

“Ag day is kind of about getting people into what we’re all about as FFA,” Reid said. “You know, getting people around the stuff that we enjoy, and getting people to understand where [these animals and plants] come from.”

Students who volunteered to serve as AG day representatives enjoyed working at their posts and sharing what AG day meant, according to Reid, who was working at the chicken coop.

“My favorite part of AG day was probably passing the chickens around,” Reid said. “A lot of people like to hold them and see what it’s like. Not many people have really actually been around a lot of animals around here.”

The event hosted multiple stations, each with something unique to offer to curious onlookers. Animals included an African cockroach, a cow and chickens.

“The sheep were really cool,” sophomore Xander Leger said. “They were really soft and didn’t bite, so I liked them.”

Ag day was held in an effort to further promote the values of the FFA organization with a purpose to boost the knowledge of ag-literacy, like knowing how the agricultural industry works in a deeper sense, such as where food comes from, who it is grown by and the effect agriculture has on the economy, according to the ag foundation website.

“Ag day is all about Ag-literacy,” Kevin Duncan, a Columbia Area Career Center agriculture teacher said.  “We are trying to educate the students of RBHS about various facets of agriculture, from animal agriculture to agriculture mechanics, animology, nursery landscaping, floral design, etc.”

Duncan himself enjoys AG day as a facilitator, and said he was pleased with the results of the event.

“Today it is a beautiful day, and we have had as large a turnout as we have ever had,” Duncan said. “The last event that we got to have was in 2019, but I think this one’s even bigger than it was two years ago.”

AG day has lots of different purposes, perceived differently by different people. It could be an opportunity to learn, or a chance to be exposed to new experiences. AG day is a chance to better understand what may be unknown to most and is a step for some into a world that offers new knowledge and insight.

“AG day is about showing all of these people different animals and helping them to get in touch with nature,” Leger said.

Did you enjoy AG day? Let us know in the comments below.