Educational Service District 123

Farm Fair, sponsored by the Greater Pasco Area Chamber of Commerce, will be held at the Benton County Fair Grounds in Kennewick on March 18th and 19th from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Chamber has sponsored this event for the past 15 years to promote the understanding and importance of agriculture to students throughout the region. This annual event is intended to offer hands-on, experiential learning about agriculture for 5th grade students in the Mid-Columbia region. “Children need to learn that food does not come from their supermarket,” says Chamber Past President, Walter Neff. Farm Fair provides 5th grade school children the opportunity to learn about agriculture as they visit booths and listen to short presentations made by a variety of agricultural organizations. Some of the agricultural groups represented at Farm Fair include Wheat Growers, Potatoes, Hay Growers, Cattlemen, and the Tri-City Rabbit Association. Local FFA Chapters, Area 4-H Clubs, and Clover Kids assist in making the fieldtrip a worthwhile experience for the schoolchildren and their teachers. Approximately 1,500 children are expected to arrive by busloads over the course of the two day event. As the children arrive, they are divided into small groups. They visit booths concurrently in 9-minute intervals. A cow bell signals when it is time for groups to advance to the next booth. It takes approximately 1 ½ hours to rotate through all of the booths and presentations.