Ag Day engages youth in agriculture, future careers

Mar. 19—GOSHEN — Students at Elkhart Community Schools are learning about more than just mathematics.

On Tuesday, fifth graders from across the district visited the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds for Ag Day, an educational field trip and celebration of all things agriculture.

As part of National Agriculture Day, March 19, director of the Cowboy Ethics program taught across Elkhart Community Schools and Public Relations Director for Elkhart County Farm Bureau Dwight Moudy, volunteers with Elkhart County Farm Bureau, and FFA members joined together to offer a more hands-on experience with the industry.

"What we're showing these kids is there are futures for everyone one of them in agriculture," Moudy said. "Not many of them will be running a tractor, but there's seeds, seed genetics, fertilizers, feed, transportation, and the really big one now is robotics. ... That all fits into agriculture and producing food and they just never considered it."

Moudy explained that while he still teaches Cowboy Ethics to fifth through ninth graders in the district, the Ag Day program has been restricted to fifth grade. Nine of the schools had teachers signed up to visit Ag Day this year, totaling around 400 fifth graders.

With one of the largest ag programs in the state, Elkhart Community Schools, as an urban school system, with almost 1,200 students getting agriculture education outside of the Cowboy Ethics program, is uniquely positioned.

"We're expanding all the time," Moudy said. "I've always got more schools wanting this. The problem I run into is there is only one of me."

Enter Lilly Cutter, Elkhart Community Schools senior FFA member, and Cowboy Ethics intern. Cutter said as a former student of the program, being able to be on the other side, educating students is exciting.

"A lot of them have a lot of questions," she said. "When you were a kid, you didn't realize you had that same ambition. ... It's really a great feeling to have kids want to talk to you and want to know more."

Cutter graduates on May 10 from Ivy Tech with an associate's degree in Agricultural Science and a certificate in Agricultural Business, and in June from Elkhart High School Class of 2024.

"That's what we can show these kids," Moudy said. "We're trying to build that desire, that interest to be involved with animals, to see that it can be a way of life."

The duo also started a podcast in December called Cowboy Ethics Indiana, which is available on most streaming platforms including Apple and Spotify.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.