Children learn about ‘miracle of agriculture’ at Farm Field Days in Springville
As he addressed the dozens of children sitting inside a barn watching a sheep get sheared, Jim Jensen grabbed a handful of wool and inquired if anyone played baseball or softball.
Responding to the scattered yes’s, the Spanish Fork sheep farmer told the crowd that wool makes up the inside of a baseball, then proceeded to show why.
He raised the wool in the air, compressed it into his palm and let it reshape.
“This is the only natural fiber that goes back immediately to the exact same shape,” Jensen said. “So when I take that bat, the ball is coming towards me, and I smack that ball as hard as I can, it actually compresses or pushes on that wool. But as soon as it leaves my bat, it flips back out to where it’s perfectly round. Now that ball, if it’s not perfectly round, wobbles and won’t fly true. If it’s perfectly round, then it goes in a straight line and goes farther.”
The role of sheep wool in America’s pastime was one of many lessons Utah County second graders learned at Farm Field Days at Harward Farms in Springville Tuesday afternoon.
The field trip is a semiannual activity put on by the Utah Farm Bureau with help from Future Farmers of America and Utah State University Extension that started in 1993. The springtime edition has occurred at Harward Farm for over 20 years.
This week, at least 4,000 students, mostly from the south end of the valley, will filter through the farm across four days to learn about the usefulness of agriculture. In the fall, north valley kids will experience the event at a different location.
Jake Harward, who owns the farm with his wife Sara, believes it’s important to show kids the experience of life on the farm.
“There’s just a little bit of a disconnect,” he said. “Utah used to be really rural, and everybody kind of knew a farm or worked on a farm, or their grandpa did. But now, it’s kind of removed. I think this gets them back here, shows there are still operating farms in Utah, and that it’s important to have local producers of beef and veggies and fruit and all that kind of thing.”
At the field day, kids rotated through 14 different stations offering different ag-related experiences. There was a talking tomato discussing produce. Farmers showed how to bail and cut hay. Kids petted goats and organizations presented how beef or honey is produced.
“Our mission statement is ‘Opening our minds to the miracle of agriculture,'” Utah County Farm Bureau President David Robbins said. “And agriculture is a miracle, whether it starts from a seed or from a baby animal. It’s cool to see how it grows and changes, and then we get something from it, whether it’s food or clothes.”
Offering such an informative experience requires a lot of preparation.
County Farm Bureau board members prepare six months in advance for the week, Robbins said, finding presenters and setting up logistics. A number of Utah State Extension workers and FFA kids from surrounding high schools volunteer to host the proceedings and direct the kids.
The result is a silly, informative event, where children watch a sheep get a haircut then learn why a tomato is a fruit.
“There’s a lot of cool things that you can learn,” Robbins said, “and if people listen, even adults can learn a lot of stuff.”
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- Kids watch a sheep during Farm Field Days on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at Harward Farms in Springville.
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- A woman asks kids if they know whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable during Farm Field Days on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at Harward Farms in Springville.
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- Sheep farmer Jim Jensen discusses the uses of wool during Farm Field Days on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at Harward Farms in Springville.
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- A man shears a sheep during Farm Field Days on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at Harward Farms in Springville.
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- A man sings “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” to kids at Farm Field Days on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at Harward Farms in Springville.
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- A boy passes out wool to students during Farm Field Days on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at Harward Farms in Springville.
