The annual Agriculture Awareness Week, hosted by College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is taking place from March 19-22 to celebrate farmers and this year many organizations hope to clear students misconceptions and questions surrounding agriculture throughout the week.
Sponsored by Agriculture Honors Fraternity, Alpha Zeta, the Brickyard has cows, pigs and chicks as well as informative posters for students to see throughout the week.
While the livestock and displays are a major attraction, event organizers hope that students learn more about the importance of Agriculture at NC State. Brandy Prestwood, a fifth-year studying agricultural science and member of agronomy club, said that it is vital for students to get dip their toes into the field of agriculture, even through getting common questions answered.
“We do it because [to bring] agriculture closer to the public because the average person is five generations removed from the farm,” Prestwood said. “So they don’t understand certain practices and why they’re necessary on the farm. This gives them the opportunity to ask people questions about that kind of thing and to get them a little bit more involved in what’s going on.”
According to Audrey Earnhardt, an alumna of Alpha Zeta and master’s student studying animal science, the purpose of bringing the livestock to them is to initiate conversation as well.
“What I love about it is that only about half of the campus is really agricultural based,” Earnhardt said. “And so the other half has never had really any experience with agriculture or even seen livestock animals so it’s a nice way to bring agriculture to them, where they can just, in between classes, come by, see the animals, what they look like, how they interact, and then come in the tent and see all of that agriculture has to offer.”
Another goal of Agriculture Awareness Week is to dispel any misconceptions students may have about studying agriculture in college and its use in the ‘real world.’
“So there’s always the bad conceptions when it comes to agriculture like GMOs and stuff like that,” Earnhardt said. “The thing with having people ask the questions is we’re able to put down those misconceptions and actually get out the truth about what agriculture is, what are these GMOs and how they’re actually helpful.”
Savannah Clark, a third-year studying animal science, said that she aims to prove that being in CALS is something that many people underestimate the necessity of.
“I think a lot of people think that agriculture majors are just farmers or, you know, hillbillies,” Clark said. “I think it is very misunderstood because plant science, soil science, you can do so much with that. I definitely think there’s a big miscommunication because we’re a lot more than just dirt and tractors, it’s a lot of science.”
Prestwood expanded on the importance agriculture, saying that appeared in students’ daily lives more than they would assume.
“Whether it’s the animal or the crop production because without agriculture you wouldn’t have anything to eat, sleep on, you wouldn’t have any clothes to wear, anything like that,” Prestwood said. “So it’s an extremely important aspect of everybody’s daily life and I think nobody wants to do it because it’s considered the dirty job, but it’s needed for everybody to live.”
Many students have found themselves spending their time between classes looking at the animals, which is the case for Emily Sharpe, a third-year studying finance.
“I just came over here to see all the animals,” Sharpe said. “I came out here last year and saw all the animals and they’re pretty interesting and fun to look at. …. I just love animals I think they’re so cute and it’s fun that our Ag school can bring these animals out here for us to look at and learn about.”
Along with the tents in the Brickyard, there will be two more events this week celebrating researchers and farmers. Farm Animal Days, which gives children a chance to see livestock, will be between March 21-23 and the Ag Day baseball game vs. Georgia Tech will take place in Doak Field at Dail Park.
A calf stands in its stall during Ag Awareness Week in the Brickyard on Tuesday. Ag Awareness Week is dedicated to informing the public about the importance of agriculture.
