21st Annual Taste Of Ag In Kosciusko County Highlights Technology
WARSAW — You and your family are invited to celebrate the diversity of Kosciusko County agriculture on April 9 at A Taste of Agriculture in Kosciusko County: A Family Affair, 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds. All families receive a gift for attending.
Diversity truly describes the experience you will have while attending this event. Whether you enjoy great food, fun for the children, activities of all types or seeing animals — this is definitely the place for you and your family.
New for this year is a focus on technology in agriculture. We will have the Purdue University Unmanned Aerial Vehicle “UAV” trailer on site to show you how drones are being used in production agriculture and everyday life to make decisions. Flying demonstrations will be provided by Purdue Extension educators with drones during the Taste of Ag.
Rowdy the Robot will also be with us from Edgewood Middle School. Rowdy is a Nao Humanoid robot that was purchased with a Dekko grant for Edgewood Middle School. In March 2018, two Edgewood Middle School students, Milana Whitaker and Owen Stevens, had the opportunity to have Rowdy perform in the Wild West Show at Michana Event Center. Whitaker and Stevens programmed Rowdy to turn and stop the pony in the arena. Rowdy maybe the first humanoid robot in the world to perform this feat. In Fall 2018, Rowdy performed again at the Michiana Event Center by riding a pony and throwing a rose at his true love’s feet. Robotics and Engineering instructor, Abbi Richcreek, is very proud of her students being able to integrate animals with autonomous machines.
Rowdy will be featured with Bo the pony at the Taste of Ag. Participants will have the opportunity to take a picture with Rowdy and his pony. Edgewood Middle school students are taking STEM to the next level. EMS students involved in the display will be Mia Blocher, Angie Sarabia, Molly Kissling and Milana Whitaker along with Richcreek).
$1,500 in grocery gift certificates and over $1,000 in other door prizes will be given out during the event. This includes product or gift certificates of varying amounts will be given for locally raised products such as soy candles, beef, pork, dairy, duck and the ever popular t-shirts will also be included in the celebration.
A “light” supper will be served hosted by the agriculture community. You will have the opportunity to taste ice cream, cheese, various pork products, duck, popcorn, beef, eggs, goat cheese, salsa and chips and much more.
The children’s activity corner is back by popular demand. Bring your camera to take pictures at the display boards while meeting Corny Corn and the “Whole Gang”. Face painting, balloons and much more are being added for the kids.
The Wawasee FFA is also hosting a pedal pull for the kids. Registration starts at 5 p.m. for children ages 5-10. Prizes will be awarded for the top finishers in each age division. The pedal pull will be held in the Show Arena at 5:30 p.m.
Also on display will be over 20 different booths representing agriculture in the county. Booths participating include beef, dairy, swine, ducks, chickens, crops, soil and water quality, farm machinery, 4-H, Master Gardeners, goats, rabbits, FFA, horses, The Old Farmhouse, Farm Service Agency and Farm Bureau. You can also get a head start on your garden and much more
Families can again work together on a scavenger hunt to find answers to questions relating to agriculture. Children who participate will receive a great prize.
The goal of the evening program is to provide an interactive educational opportunity for both youth and adults to learn about agriculture in Kosciusko County. As the title implies, people attending the event will have the chance to taste samples of the various products grown in Kosciusko County. For those booths that do not produce a food commodity, they will have an activity
The event is free to the public and is sponsored by the Kosciusko County: Agriculture Awareness Committee, Extension Office, Farm Bureau, County Community Foundation, Cargill Animal Nutrition and Farm Credit Mid America and supported by the Kosciusko County Community Fair.