Coffee Talk Shop
"Coffee Shop Talks," also known as Producer Meetings, are programs directed toward local producers covering current topics in the ag industry. Typically, they start around 7:30 am, and attendees receive breakfast. Topics covered in this past season of Coffee Shop Talks include grain market update, coyote control, weather/climate update, and understanding EPDs/Indexes. Stafford County producers like to attend these talks, so the main delivery site for them is at the Extension Office in St. John. If you are interested in coming to these, the next round will begin in November of this year and run through February of 2025.
Ag Day
We launched Ag Day in September 2024 in Stafford County for 4th graders. Since then, we have brought Ag Day to each county, including Edwards County, where both 4th and 5th graders take part. Each event features presenters and sponsors who spend the morning teaching students about different parts of the agriculture industry.
Wheat Plot
Every year, the district holds a wheat plot field day in Edwards County with help from local farmers and producers. Our Ag Agent works to secure a plot, gather seed, and plant several wheat demonstration plots. These plots show how each type performs in local conditions. We take notes and collect harvest data, then share this information to help farmers decide which varieties might work best on their farms next year.
Chicks-R-Us
Embryology: Hatching chicks in the classroom! Designed to provide students with information and exciting experiential activities dealing with life science for use in your classroom. (Schedule early in the year to prepare for spring hatching)
Ag in School
Our ag agent has been spending the 2025-2026 school year visiting a local 8th-grade class each week. This particular class has been broken up into trimesters, so a ‘course’ has been put together in roughly 10-week intervals. Students spend an hour each week for 10 weeks learning about a variety of topics, including soil fertility, growing zones, farm equipment costs and uses, Kansas grain harvests, supply and demand, agriculture byproducts, livestock industry history, livestock ID methods, reporting livestock out, meat cuts, and more. Our hopes are that the 10-week ‘course’ can continue to be updated and improved into a very solid program offered to more schools in the district and used across the state by other agents.
Farm-To-Pizza
We’ve started a new program called ‘Farm to Pizza’ where elementary students learn how each part of a pizza—crust, sauce, cheese, and meat—comes from agriculture. Afterward, they get to make and eat their own pizzas.