LODI, Ohio — Ohio has 3,099 dairy farms and leads the country in the production of Swiss cheese. Those were just a few of the fun farm facts winning students shared with Heather Finley’s third-grade class during a visit to Richman Farm in Lodi.  

The class visit was one of two trips awarded as the top prize in the Ohio Livestock Coalition’s “For Your InFARMation” essay contest. Naomi Miranda and Emma Crusey wrote the winning essays; Miranda is a third-grade student at Buckeye Primary School in Medina County, while Crusey is a student at North Union Elementary School in Union County.

Crusey’s class was to visit an egg farm in late May, according to David White, executive director of the Ohio Livestock Coalition. The contest was sponsored by the Ohio Livestock Coalition and is part of the For Your InFARMation curriculum.

For Your InFARMation, or FYI, was made possible through the efforts of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation and Ohio’s commodity groups and producers. The essay contest is part of the educational component designed to meet the state’s educational standards for science, language arts, economics and math.

Through FYI, teachers have access to a series of lesson plans, which teach the students about farmers, the farm economy, livestock farming, keys to safe and healthy food and careers in agriculture. The material also includes agricultural-related statistics, which students apply to mathematical concepts such as charts and graphs.

“The Ohio Livestock Coalition realized there were not many programs to educate third graders about where their food comes from, particularly pertaining to animal agriculture,” said White. “Agriculture education benefits everyone because the students learn where their food comes from, beyond the grocery store. Students are learning about agriculture at an early age.”

An added benefit is the field trip to a farm for the classmates of the student winning the essay contest.

“With many school districts facing budget cuts, this may be the only chance the students have for a field trip this year,” White said.

Richman Farm is owned and operated by Dick Indoe and his sons, Tom and Bill.  They farm 850 acres and raise corn, beans, wheat and hay. They milk 75 head of dairy cattle, Holsteins, Brown Swiss and Jerseys, and have 125 replacement animals.

They host several tours each year for groups such as Leadership Medina, the Medina County Farm Tour and scouts and other community groups.

Deb Indoe, president of Medina County Farm Bureau, led the tour around the farm, highlighting the free-stall barn designed to keep the cows comfortable year-round. This barn replaced a bank barn that was destroyed by a tornado in 2008. The bank barn was rebuilt and is now used to house heifers and machinery. She also showed the students the machinery used to produce feed for the dairy herd.

Indoe admitted it was a busy time of year on the farm, but this field trip was important because it brought students out and helped educate them, so when they grow up and become consumers they have more respect for where their food comes from.

“The media has so much power,” Indoe added. “We want people to think things through, we want them to know there is another side to the story.”

Heather Finley said she found out about the contest from Holly Wright, a parent of one of her students.

“Even though we are a rural school district, the students need to get out and see how farmers keep our food healthy,” said Finley. “This shows the students what happens from the animals to the store to the table. There is only so much we can teach in the classroom, without the students actually seeing it firsthand.”

Wright said her husband learned about the Ohio Livestock Coalition through social media, and she became a fan. When she saw the contest promotion, she gave the information to Finley.

Wright said many children simply think their food comes from the grocery store. “They have no idea who raised it or how it was raised,” she said.

For more information about FYI or for educational materials, visit www.For YourInFarmation.com