Rohrbach’s Agriculture Camp hosts 23, K-8th grade students
During the week of June 13, children got to experience “Agriculture Camp” at Rohrbach’s Farm in Catawissa, Pennsylvania. This camp came about by a partnership between The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, Bloomsburg Children’s Museum, Rohrbach’s Farm Market, Penn State Extension, and the Columbia County Conservation District. This was the first time these organizations worked together in such a capacity. The purpose of this camp was to provide children with educational exposure to agriculture and a representation of its vast diversity.
Monday, June 13th was a focus on homeschool families, which included 23 participants. Their day consisted of time in the Pennsylvania Friends of Agriculture Foundation’s Mobile Ag Ed Science Lab, participating in hands-on lessons in pollination presented by Bloomsburg Children’s Museum, and some time in Rohrbach’s Strawberry field, learning about strawberries and picking them as well.
On Tuesday and Wednesday morning, 23 Kindergarten to 2nd grade students participated in the Mobile Ag Lab, a “What is a Pest” presentation from Penn State Extension, learned about pollinators from the Bloomsburg Children’s Museum and experienced strawberry picking and field education from Rohrbach’s.
Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons 24 third to fifth grade students had the same rotation as the morning, but with an advanced curriculum.
Thursday was open to the public and approximately 25 guests from the community rotated through the Mobile Ag lab and experienced the impact of pollinators. In addition, Rohrbach’s presented the role of beef cows on the farm and to our environment, with some resources from the PA Beef Council. In addition, 60 local students attended all the programming as a part of a YMCA camp.
Friday was the final day of camp and ten, 6th – 8th graders had a full day. They experienced the Mobile Ag Lab, where they learned how to make plastic from corn, as well as the different parts of an egg, how to grade an egg and how to spot imperfections. They also had a visit to Rohrbach’s strawberry patch. To end the day, Columbia County Conservation District led a hands-on soil pit experience, which included lots of digging, a presentation on soil assessment, the important of no till practices, and how to test water filtration.
This camp was made possible in part by a grant provided by the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.
