If youngsters who’ve attended past Ag Discovery Adventures are any indication, playing in corn kernels is tons more fun than playing in sand. The corn box and bounce houses are always big hits with Adventure-going kids.
Folks of all ages can experience 21st century agriculture firsthand when they head to Auburn University’s E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter Saturday, Sept. 23, for the sixth annual Ag Discovery Adventure.
The free, family-oriented event will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the 3,186-acre research center, located off Interstate 85 at Exit 26, between Montgomery and Auburn. The physical address is 4725 County Road 40, Shorter.
This year’s Adventure-goers will find activities that run the gamut from peanut digging and cotton picking to GPS-guided hayrides and pumpkin and corn mazes. They’ll also have the chance to learn valuable skills, such as how to cast a fishing pole and how to harvest rainwater, and to watch Auburn chef Chris Wilton demonstrate delicious ways to cook catfish, shrimp, chicken and beef. Live music provided throughout the day will include a performance by Alabama’s top FFA String Band.
Hosted by the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn’s College of Agriculture, Ag Discovery Adventure is designed to showcase agricultural technology and increase the non-farm public’s awareness of the economic impact of agriculture in Alabama and the vital role agriculture plays in people’s lives.
“Ag Discovery Adventure is an opportunity to ask questions concerning how your food and fiber are produced in the United States,” said Auburn animal scientist and event coordinator Lisa Kriese-Anderson. “It is also a time to ask how different careers fit into the agricultural system. Agriculture depends on highly advanced systems to ensure sustainability of our natural resources as well as continued low food prices for consumers.”
Those attending Ag Discovery Adventure can bring picnic lunches to enjoy on the grounds, or they can purchase hot-off-the-grill hamburgers and hot dogs onsite from Auburn’s Collegiate Cattlemen and Cattlewomen.
Cosponsors of Ag Discovery Adventure include the Alabama Cotton Producers, Alabama Soybean Producers, Alabama Wheat and Feed Grains Producers, the Alabama Farmers Federation, the Alabama Peanut Producers and the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association.
For a complete roundup of activities, visit the website. Questions? Contact Kriese-Anderson at kriesla@aces.edu or Dale Monks, crop, soil and environmental sciences professor and director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station’s outlying units, at monkscd@auburn.edu.
The E.V. Smith Research Center is the largest and most comprehensive of the Experiment Station’s 15 outlying research and extension facilities located throughout Alabama. E.V. Smith is home to beef cattle, horticulture, plant breeding, field crops and biosystems engineering research units.