The Dougherty County Agriculture & Natural Resources County Extension Agent and the 4-H Youth Development County Extension Agent met with the Career, Technical and Agricultural Education director to discuss the possibility of conducting an Agriculture Field Day targeting all seventh graders in the Dougherty County School System

     When talking to kids in the urban area about careers in agriculture, farmers are the first thing that come to mind. The goal of the Dougherty County Agricultural Field Day was to educate students in five agricultural fields of study.  These areas included Agricultural Business, Horticulture, Environmental Education and Natural Resources, Crop Production and Animal Science.  Five representatives per field of study were identified.  Each representative was sent an Ag Field Day flyer and vendor form to complete and confirm their attendance.  The 4-H Agent developed a pre/post-test that was given out to the students at the beginning of each assembly and then again after they visited their last station. The CTAE director handled the logistics of providing tables and chairs for each station, soliciting volunteers, assigning each of the four middle schools times in which to participate in the field day, arranging lunch and transportation to Merry Acres Middle School where the Ag Field Day took place.

     A total of 788 youth from three of the four middle schools were exposed to the Agriculture Field Day. By participating in interactive presentations and hands-on learning experiences, students learned how vital the agricultural industry is to Dougherty County and the state of Georgia.

     Data from the post-test showed that 82% of participants were able to name a career related to agriculture other than a farmer. 91% of students also reported knowing how much money the agricultural industry contributes to Georgia’s economy. 73% of participants stated they would be interested in an Agricultural Pathway at the middle or high school level. 86% of the students surveyed were able to recall the top 5 agricultural commodities