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4th annual Agriculture & Food Science Exploration Day a success
Published 4:34 pm Tuesday, July 29, 2025
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A large group of students took part in this year’s AFSE. Photo provided
Students take part in activites as part of Agriculture & Food Science Exploration Day. Photo provided
For the Herald
Mower County Extension
Agriculture and food science technology is one of the leading industries in the United States. Encouraging students to find their own pathways towards feeding, fueling, and clothing the world is an ongoing pursuit of agricultural education. Statistically, while only 2% of the population has direct ties to production agriculture, over 50% of the population works in a field related to agriculture and food science. Agriculture & Food Science Exploration (AFSE) Day seeks to capitalize on those opportunities.
AFSE Day was developed in 2022 as a partnership between Riverland Community College and Mower County 4-H Extension to educate area youth about what it means to work in agriculture and food science technology. The goal for this program is to have new activities and adventures for all students each year.
“The idea for Ag & Food Science Exploration Day was to excite our youth about all the opportunities they can have in Ag & Food Science,” said Adam Stevermer of Mower County 4-H Extension. “While the event is designed to be a quick hands-on exploration day, we hope students can find one topic that excites and motivates them towards a future study and even career in an agriculture or food science field.”
This year’s theme was “Ag, Food, Health, & You.” Topics ranging around how Ag, Food, & Natural Resources (AFNR) impacts the global food supply, the role food plays on the human body, what animal husbandry work goes into creating our food, and how the students can be a part of this conversation were constructed.
Held on Wednesday, July 9 the participants took part in various sessions that ranged from 60-120 minutes in length. Topics covered included plant science, animal health, farm-to-table steps for many meats, new food product development, human nutrition, food safety, career exploration, and STEM-related technologies.
To learn about agronomy, youth identified alfalfa pests, calculated alfalfa stands, learned how drones are used in agronomy, and used a state of the art machine to test nutrient levels in corn plants. The youth were instructed by Riley Chaffee, Katie Bernicky, Chad Steinkamp, and Dave Vaughan of Nexus Cooperative. The students commented on how much they enjoyed learning about how agriculture uses technology, so they found these activities very interesting. A big thanks to Nexus Cooperative for donating the materials and the crop professionals to lead the students through the activities.
“It was fascinating to see the students get energized about using sweep nets, flying a drone above plant canopies, and using a leaf tissue machine to analyze real-time plant nutrition,” said co-coordinator of AFSE Day Nick Schiltz. “They were also able to learn about what it takes to do a plant tissue test. Knowing these skills is neat, but being young students who are learning not just how to do them, but also the science behind these activities is incredible. The neatest thing too was that students had to work as a team and on occasion, hear from the farmers and crop professionals they worked with.”
The students then traveled to Read’s Brown Swiss dairy farm where they learned about animal nutrition and animal health. Students learned about the computer technology farmers use to manage and monitor herd health. They also learned about the role genetics plays in milk production. The hands-on animal activities they took part in developing their skills towards animal science. For all students, they saw the opportunity of visiting a local dairy farm as a valuable experience. They even were able to interact with the cows too, which was a huge hit.
“I liked working with animals and taking care of them. The dairy farm was my favorite activity,” an AFSE participant said.
From here, AFSE Day continued with a Food Innovation activity with Hormel Foods Research & Development Labs’ Research Scientists inside of the Riverland Community College Food Science Lab. Students were led through a presentation around sensory analysis and how Hormel R&D uses this work to develop new food productions for consumption. It was enthralling to see how these important processes are initiated and how the customer surveys were assessed with ordinary people.
The students were then part of a sensory survey and they were asked to taste test a few new meat products. Students had to follow particular protocols and respond to questions about the product (texture, tastings, visual observations, and other parameters). They were asked to share what they said and why they perhaps felt a certain way.
The students were then told that they were part of a large group sensory study that the R&D team would use for further food product development. This was a very real world and hands-on activity for them to learn about new food product development.
The next stop was The Hormel Institute where youth participated in a series of games to help them learn how to read a nutrition label and identify which food groups foods belong in. These activities helped them learn the importance of eating a well rounded diet. They also participated in a Bingo activity to learn about foods from around the world. Working as a team was a highlight for the students and they found the food exploration activities very fascinating.
We ended the day by touring Jeff and Chanda’s hog barn. Members were able to go inside the barn, but first had to suit up and wear proper clothing and plastic boot coverings to prevent diseases from entering the barn. This helped youth learn about the importance of biosecurity and keeping pigs healthy. Youth also learned about pig behavior and nutrition. Getting a chance to again interact with animals (a much smaller animal this time) was also well-received by the group and they were very grateful for the experience. They looked like hog farmers.
Following the tour, the students celebrated their graduation from 2025’s AFSE Day. Each participant received a certificate of completion as well as many take home bag items to help them learn even more about “Ag, Food, Health, & You” at home.
“I learned a lot during Agriculture and Food Science Exploration Day. It showed me many future careers,” an AFSE Day participant said.
The world will need future leaders that can meet the demand for the products that agriculture creates. Like many other programs, AFSE Day seeks to encourage students to rise to the occasion and help feed, fuel, and clothe the world. The program changes each year. Previous participants are encouraged to sign up again next year.
Many thanks to the sponsors of the 2025 Agriculture & Food Science Exploration (AFSE) Day that helped make this day successful: Riverland Community College, Mower County 4-H Extension, Farm Bureau Financial Services – Darrell Ingvaldson, The Hormel Institute, Reads Brown Swiss, Jane Brown Family Farms, Nexus Cooperative, Hormel Foods, and The Hormel Foundation.
Story provided by Mower County Extension
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