(La Porte County, IN) - About 800 grade school kids from La Porte County now know that an average dairy cow produces about 100 pounds of milk per day.

 

They also learned much more about food production by attending the annual Ag Days at the La Porte County Fairgrounds on Wednesday and Thursday.

 

La Porte County Farm Bureau members were the instructors at more than a dozen portable classrooms inside and outside the Community Building.

 

Dairy Farmer Frank Minich told kids from various schools like Hailmann Elementary in La Porte that a typical cow begins producing milk about two years after they’re born and drink a “bathtub full of water” every day.

 

Minich’s farm near Door Village has about 800 dairy cows.

 

Paul Herrold, a grain farmer near Westville, taught kids about corn, soybeans and wheat. He also demonstrated in a question and answer session with a miniature grinder how wheat turns into flour.

 

“What am I going to get when I grind this wheat? Flour. Exactly,” he said.

 

Retired dairy farmer, Luann Troxel, showed the children two newborn calves and explained things such as why drinking milk is good for the body.

 

“That’s why milk is a great product because it gives you protein and calcium naturally,” she said.

 

Tim Bauer, a teacher at the Renaissance Academy, seemed just an interested as his students, if not, more from what he was learning.

 

“It’s great we got to see cows at two days old. I didn’t know cows were so big after two days. I think this is wonderful,” he said.

 

La Porte County Farm Bureau President Mark Parkman said Ag Days dates back to 1984 when it was hosted by the La Porte Row Crop Food Producers organization.  He said it was held annually until the COVID-19 pandemic but has since resumed as a yearly event teaching children about food production and the work involved in getting it to their dinner tables.

 

Parkman, who raises corn, soybeans, hay, wheat and cattle, said La Porte County Farm Bureau with help from the row crop group now puts on the event.

 

“It’s a pretty good way for kids to learn about where they’re food comes from,” he said.