Harvesting Young Minds and Crops at Wallace Elementary: PHOTOS

Students at Wallace Elementary got their hands dirty on Wednesday.

They youths learned a bit about harvesting, and then put that knowledge into practice, during the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation's Agriculture in the Classroom series at the school.

Cindy Hall with Polk County Farm Bureau talked to Chrissy Hermann's fourth-grade class Wednesday afternoon about the history of corn and soybeans.

Students were able to pick out the different kinds of corn, while learning a little about their uses.

When Hall held up an ear of field corn, students were quick to point out it could be used in ethonal, food products and to feed livestock.

After a quick lesson, students tried their hand at harvesting from the school's small corn plot.

The corn and soybeans were donated earlier in the year by Pioneer Hi-Bred and planted by students in the 30- by 30-foot area.

Students learned how the corn and soybeans were shucked in the past and how the crops are now combined by farmers.

When it came to the soybeans, the students removed the husks and silk from as many ears as possible in two minutes as part of a contest with other fourth-grade classes at Wallace.

Hermann's class led with three-quarters of a cup full of soybeans.

In all, Hall will host the demonstration at Beaver Creek, Wallace and Horizon elementary schools.

Agriculture in the Classroom is a national program of the USDA and administered in Iowa by the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation. The mission is to help students in kindergarten to 12th grade become agriculturally literate.