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Students Participate in National Ag Week
Author: Matt Nelson

Students Participate in National Ag Week

Matt Nelson

Stephanie Hensley and daughter Olivia displayed seed potatoes and alfalfa pellets.

Mishayla Lambott, who just graduated from Broadwater County High School, and her friend Coleen led a group of 2nd graders around. When their photograph was taken, they were standing in front of a table occupied by Samantha Ferrat, a member of the Montana Farmers Union. She had a large poster of a cow and its digestive system and also talked about Master Gardeners and soil. Samantha wrote that “The Montana Farmers Union has master gardeners who are knowledgeable of soil structure, soil layers, soil health and how it makes plants healthy.” Daniel Truesdell, a member of the Broadwater County Search and Rescue Team, was assisting her at the time.

One of the more interesting displays was an approximately 6-foot-wide drone that Aiden Kitto, another recent graduate from Broadwater County High School, said is used for spraying chemicals on fields. It holds about 10 gallons of spray and can fly for ten minutes before the batteries have to be recharged.

Jodi Koterba is the Education Director for the Montana Farmers Union. She gave a short presentation on beekeeping, and even showed a shirt made from the beeswax coating of a beehive. She described the use of pollinators, parts of flow, and beeswax candles.

Sawyer Harrigfeld had a cow and her two-year-old calf on display for his 4-H project.

Near the outside of the big livestock building, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP) forest rangers, Emme Fernandez and Josh Leonard, showed the kids several skulls from different animals, including a coyote, a wolf, an antelope, and an elk, and other smaller animals. The kids were fascinated just looking at the skulls. They also showed drawings of various fish and how to identify them.

Other outside activities included youngsters practicing roping plastic cows, jumping in and out of huge tractor tires, dancing, and stacking blue blocks taller than they are. Others rode stick horses, while some played horseshoes.

Chase White and Austin Paulsen, two electricians who work for Vigilante Electric Cooperative, demonstrated the dangerous electric arc when a short occurs between ground and a 5000-volt power line. Maintaining safety is a high priority.

Kathy Blair and Kelley Gobbs made a lot of kids happy by giving them all kinds of chocolate samples.

Altogether, it was a good day for all of the participants, from the kids of all ages to the adults leading them.

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PhotoCredit: Matt Nelson
Image 1 Caption: Mishayla Lambott (left) and her friend Coleen (right) are with 2nd graders. Montana Farmers Union representative Samantha Ferrat is standing behind Mishayla, and she talked about a cow's digestive system. Photo Credit: Matt Nelson
Image 2 Caption: Montana FWP Game Wardens John Leonard and Emme Fernandez showed kids different animal skulls pelts, and how to identify fish. Amanda Hazlett is standing on the right. Photo Credit: Matt Nelson
Image 3 Caption: Aiden Kitto is standing next to a drone that is approximately 6 feet wide and used for spraying chemicals on fields.
Image 4 Caption: Austin Paulsen (left) and Chase White (right), 2 electricians from Vigilante Electric, demonstrate the danger of shorting out a high voltage electrical line with the ground. A big electrical arc is visible.