A traveling Ag Lab that serves as a classroom to educate young Delawareans about farming and agriculture, is getting a big boost.
The Farm Credit Foundation for Agricultural Advancement has given the Delaware Farm Bureau (DFB) Foundation a $10,000 grant, earmarked for the Mobile Ag Lab.
“The Mobile Ag Lab is 26-foot-long trailer that has been outfitted with cabinets and countertops; it has been set up almost like a classroom. And I can take 14 children at a time and they come in to the Ag Lab from outside their class and spend about 30 minutes with me learning about healthy eating,” said Laura Simpson, manager for the Delaware Farm Bureau.
Simpson notes the lab teaches students about farming as a career choice, soils in the First State and how food gets from the farm into their lunchbox.
She says the $10,000 grant helps sustain those educational initiatives.
“It’ll be used for supplies, curriculum," said Simpson. "It will be used for some upgrades that are needed for the Ag Lab, gas, just about every expense that it takes to run this program.”
Simpson points out the Ag Lab is available by reservation to elementary school classes at a cost of $1 per child, on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Ag Lab has reached more than 10,000 students since it was put in service in 2014.
To request the Ag Lab for a school visit, call (302) 697-3183.
