Dr. Health E. Hound, the mascot for United Healthcare, helps first grade learn about healthy eating at Ag Alley during the Ag Expo in West Monroe on Jan. 15. (Photo by Johnny Morgan)

Southern University county agent Odis Hill teaches north Louisiana students about corn production at Ag Expo in West Monroe on Jan.15. (Photo by Johnny Morgan)

LSU AgCenter 4-H agent Lekeisha Lucas-Powell from East Carroll Parish shows student how to candle an egg to determine if there are defects at Ag Expo in West Monroe on Jan. 15. (Photo by Johnny Morgan)

News Release Distributed 01/22/15

WEST MONROE, La. – LSU AgCenter agents and volunteers from northeast Louisiana provided hands-on experience to deliver agricultural information to school children and adults during the annual Ag Expo at the Ike Hamilton Expo Center on Jan. 14-17.

More than 1,900 first- and fourth-grade students attended this year’s event and saw the importance of agriculture for their lives and for the state.

“The first two days are dedicated just for the students,” said Richard Letlow, AgCenter agent in Ouachita Parish and one of the coordinators of the event. “Then on Friday and Saturday it’s open to everyone who attends the Ag Expo.”

In addition to the standard alleys of corn, gardening and the mini-farm, Letlow said, forestry was a new addition.

“One thing that we’ve done this year is to make the alley more interactive,” he said. “That has been one of the things that continued to be listed on the evaluation each year, so this year we did that to make it more hands-on.”

“With the first-graders, who tend to have shorter attention spans, we have the Monroe Zoo come in with different types of animals to show the kids,” Letlow said. Another area dedicated to the younger kids is the nutrition exhibit.

Letlow said Ag Expo was started by the North Louisiana Agri-Business Council in the late 1990s, and the Ag Alley began in 2002.

LSU AgCenter agent Rafash Brew from Union Parish displayed different types of container gardens that he has at schools in his area. It provided a “playground” for the small children to dig in the soil for carrots and potatoes.

“This year we are doing something a little different by adding vertical gardening for those with limited space,” Brew said.

He used shipping pallets and burlap-type bags to create an area for just about any plants that are grown in the raised-bed gardens that are familiar to many of the students.

Southern University county agent Odis Hill from Morehouse Parish told the students of the importance of corn as a crop that’s grown in north Louisiana and many other areas of the state.

“We talked to them about the production of corn, which involves the soil preparation, the different growth stages and the harvesting,” Hill said.

One thing that surprised the students is where the corn goes after harvest. Hill told them that more than 90 percent of the corn grown in north Louisiana goes for feed to the poultry industry in the area.

“It’s not too surprising that they know very little about agriculture,” Hill said. “When I show them the corn that is dried down and ask what do we do with it, they’ll say ‘eat it,’ not realizing that it is past the point of human consumption.”

Always a favorite spot for the younger students is the mini farm, where they get to touch baby chicks and visit the candling display, where they can view inside an egg.

Glynda Aulds, first-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary, said Ag Alley is a great opportunity for her students to learn about the agricultural industry and the different food groups.

“This allows them to learn about MyPlate and how to eat well and to get to see some of the animals that they don’t get to see in their everyday life,” Aulds said.

AgCenter area nutrition agent Cathy Agan from Ouachita Parish said the school groups move between stations in 15-minute intervals.

“Each of the stations represents some area of nutrition, health and agriculture,” she said. “Each of these areas is designed to show the students where our food comes from and what our bodies need to stay healthy.”

The students heard about MyPlate, visit the Germ Cave and get to milk Louella, the cow, Agan said.