Northwest Iowa Dairy Days
Posted on July 26, 2014 at 6:30 AM by Iowa Corn
In celebration of June dairy month, Iowa Corn interns, Sarah Tweeten and Natalina Sents, traveled to Northwest Iowa to participate in Dairy Days. The educational open house was hosted by Plymouth Dairy Farms near LeMars, Iowa and sponsored by Western Iowa Dairy Alliance and Midwest Dairy Association. Families of all ages enjoyed tours of the 2,700 head dairy, kids activity tent, and a free meal. Guests were able to catch a glimpse of life on the farm with stops in the milking parlor and maternity barns.
The Iowa Corn display was inside the children's tent along with tables from Iowa State University Extension & Outreach, a petting zoo, the corn pools and other commodity group's information. All the action entertained hundreds of kids despite gloomy skies and pouring rain.
At the Iowa Corn table, families lined up to make corn necklaces for a solid two hours. Even with poor weather, the line was steady. As an intern, it was exciting to see eager young faces curious about corn. As the children filled their small baggies with soil, selected a corn seed, watered it and clipped it on a lanyard, Sarah and I questioned them. "Is the corn hard or soft? Do you eat this kind of corn? Why are you putting water in there?" As they moved down the line Sarah explained, "This corn is hard, not soft and juicy like sweet corn. You eat sweet corn at your house, but these cows eat hard corn. The corn helps the cows produce the milk you drink. If you tasted their corn you'd think it was yucky. Corn plants need water just like you to grow big and strong." By the time the kids proudly held their finished project they were repeating all they'd just learned to their parents.
At the end of the night, over 200 corn necklaces had been made. All in all, the evening was a great learning experience for everyone involved.
At the Iowa Corn table, families lined up to make corn necklaces for a solid two hours. Even with poor weather, the line was steady. As an intern, it was exciting to see eager young faces curious about corn. As the children filled their small baggies with soil, selected a corn seed, watered it and clipped it on a lanyard, Sarah and I questioned them. "Is the corn hard or soft? Do you eat this kind of corn? Why are you putting water in there?" As they moved down the line Sarah explained, "This corn is hard, not soft and juicy like sweet corn. You eat sweet corn at your house, but these cows eat hard corn. The corn helps the cows produce the milk you drink. If you tasted their corn you'd think it was yucky. Corn plants need water just like you to grow big and strong." By the time the kids proudly held their finished project they were repeating all they'd just learned to their parents.At the end of the night, over 200 corn necklaces had been made. All in all, the evening was a great learning experience for everyone involved.
Natalina Sents is the Market Development Intern for Iowa Corn this summer. She assists the department with pump promotions, foreign teams, and the Iowa Corn Indy 300. In the fall, she will return to Iowa State University for her junior year in the Agricultural Business program. At school, Natalina peer mentors freshmen and holds an officer position in several agricultural organizations. She also writes an agvocacy blog.
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