Farm Bureau group donates ‘Learning Barn’ to CCES

By Community Member | April 15, 2009 1:52 pm

Charles City-James City-New Kent-York Farm Bureau Women’s Committee has donated a “Learning Barn,” designed to enhance students’ knowledge of agriculture, to Charles City Elementary School.

Taking part in the March 23 presentation were Farm Bureau president Norman Hofmeyer, vice-president Jackson Darst, Capital District chairman Ruby Leonard, and Women’s Committee members Gloria Beil and Dottie Hofmeyer. Accepting on behalf of the school were superintendent Janet Crawley, principal Danielle Belton, and librarian Diane Carver.

A Learning Barn is a bookshelf shaped and painted to look like a barn. It was built by Rob Whitehurst of C. R. Whitehurst & Sons and is stocked with 20 to 30 agriculturally-themed books and educational resources.

The Farm Bureau Women’s Program has been the volunteer cornerstone in supporting agriculture in the classroom. The program’s purpose is to promote agriculture and educate communities on the importance of the agriculture industry.

“Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders,” said Norman Hofmeyer. “ Agri-science, agribusiness and production agriculture form the largest industry in America. As future leaders, students must have an understanding of agriculture and how it affects their world so they can make good decisions for Charles City County and Virginia.”

Charles City is home to several James River plantations, which represent some of the Old Dominion’s earliest agricultural interests. Currently, over 27,000 acres are designated as farm land (consisting of both cropland and woodland).

Approximately 6,000 acres of corn, 5,000 acres of wheat, 7,200 acres of soybeans, 1,000 acres of cotton and 1,000 acres of hay are produced annually by county farmers, generating over $10 million in cash receipts per year according to the latest agriculture census.

CCJCNKY Farm Bureau actively promotes and supports agriculture while offering programs and services that benefit its 3,900 members, 336 of whom are directly involved in production agriculture. For more information, call the Providence Forge office at 966-2310.