This 2017 Ag Discovery Adventure–goer was one of hundreds of attendees who learned how peanuts grow and had the chance to dig their own. One of several dozen volunteers at this year’s Adventure was there to answer her questions.
Two annual College of Agriculture events that put the spotlight on agriculture in general and Alabama agriculture in particular drew a combined 5,300-plus attendees on back-to-back hot-and-humid Saturdays in September.
More than 3,000 of those folks—3,001, to be exact—traveled from across central Alabama to the E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter Sept. 23 for the sixth annual Ag Discovery Adventure. The record-setting crowd enjoyed activities that ranged from peanut digging and cotton picking to GPS-guided hayrides and a corn maze to cooking demonstrations and pumpkin decorating.
Adventure-goers gave high marks to the free event. As one attendee posted on Ag Discovery’s Facebook page, “We had four generations of our family there today, and every last one of us had a blast! Thank you so very much for all the hard work that goes into this event. It is very educational and just plain fun.”
Ag Discovery Adventure is co-hosted by the College of Agriculture, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station.
On the previous Saturday, Sept. 16, more than 2,300 people who were on the Auburn campus for homecoming 2017 made their way to Ag Heritage Park to sample the dozens of Alabama-grown and/or -processed food products featured at the 38th annual Ag Roundup. As alwa addition to food, Ag Roundup offers a number of children’s activities as well as live and silent auctions and informational exhibits.
The three-hour pregame tailgate party, sponsored by the College of Agriculture and the Auburn Agricultural Alumni Association, wrapped up an hour before the homecoming football game between the Auburn Tigers and the Mercer University Bears.