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The Pike County Farm-City Committee celebrated Farm-City Week 2023 with signature events throughout the week that began with Farm Day at Cattleman Park on Tuesday and culminated with the Farm-City Awards presentations at the complex on Thursday night. The annual Farm-City Swap will be held at a later date.

On Tuesday, third-graders from the Troy City and Pike County schools participated in Farm Day and learned more about the daily life on a farm.

Goshen FFA students took the opportunity of Pike County Farm Day to share farm animals in their care and also their knowledge about those animals, including a cow, a goat and a sheep.

Cody Eiland, Goshen Agriculture Academy instructor and FFA advisor, said many third-graders have never been close to a farm animal and that experience is very different from seeing an animal in a pasture or behind a fence.

And, he said, students may not know where their food comes from nor the clothes they wear but Farm Day gives the students a better knowledge of both.

The third graders learned that a bale of cotton weighs 500 pounds and it takes two-and-a-half pounds of cotton to make a pair of jeans. The students were asked how many pairs of jeans could be made from one bale of cotton. The answered varied from two pairs to 25.

The students also had a hands-on cotton activity and were challenged with removing seeds from the cotton and they found it very difficult compared to what a cotton gin can do in a relatively short time.

The third-graders enjoyed the chemical look-a-like game. They guessed which bottle contained a harmless liquid and which was a harmful chemical. The students learned that it’s difficult to tell one from the other so that’s why it is so important to label bottles and to read the labels.

The students learned that a tractor poses the greatest danger facing kids and they were surprised that the tractor is related to most farm accidents involving youngsters. The reason for most of those accidents is not wearing a seat belt.

The students also visited the Soil Tunnel Trailer and ventured underground where turtles, snakes, moles and other such animals make their homes

SHORT the Squirrel also participated in Pike County Farm Day to learn more about farming crops and how Alabama farms provide food for the table as well as the clothing they wear.

Abby Peters, Pike County Extension coordinator, said Farm Day was, once again a great success in that the students, even those who live on a farm, learned more about farm life and benefited from hands-on experiences, whether touching a sheep or removing a seed from a cotton boll.

Contrary to what some youngsters thought, a cotton boll Is very different from a football game at the Cotton Bowl. The students also visited the Soil Tunnel Trailer and ventured underground where turtles, snakes, moles and other such animals make their homes.

Farm Day 2023 was a day well spent. Much was learned and much was experienced and will not soon be forgotten.