Investing in Education

Nov 26, 2024


Sara Clausen
Director of Communications

 

How Bushels for Ag links the classroom to the field


AS THE WORLD’S POPULATION INCREASES, so does the need to feed people! According to researchers at the USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), production around the world would have to increase to 14,060 trillion crop calories to feed 9.75 billion people in 2050. We must nurture the next generation of students into agriculture to help meet this need; our nation may also struggle economically if we do not.

Hands-on learning and real-life experiences are the path to educating our future producers of food, fuel and fiber. For more than a decade, Key Cooperative has been focused on developing a one-of-a-kind program called Bushels for Ag, through which
we donate hundreds of bushels of corn and soybeans to high school ag marketingclasses.

This program may sound similar to other “gift of grain” concepts around the Midwest, but Key finds value beyond just making a donation of grain to a school ag program. This is an opportunity to take an active role in helping educate the students who are in vo-ag classes and FFA chapters today and who will one day supply food for the human population. That is the entire reason Bushels for Ag was developed!

At the beginning of each school year, Key’s Field Marketing Specialists visit participating schools to kick off the Bushels for Ag program. The students put together a grain marketing plan with the help of their instructor, and Key donates the first 100 bushels of corn and 40 bushels of beans to be marketed by the class.

Members of the Key Grain team work with the students throughout the entire school year. “This program is all about giving students a very real experience,” said Key Field Marketing Specialist Greg Artz. “The class has an opportunity to sell real bushels. Students realize what the bushels are worth, which could be higher or lower by the end of the school year, just like an actual farmer.”

Key Cooperative partners with more than 20 schools in and around communities with Key locations. Several of these schools, including Nevada High School, have participated in the program since its inception.

“This program gets the kids connected to actual commodity price movement,” said Kevin Cooper, the Nevada High School FFA advisor. “We split our class in half—those two groups meet regularly to make decisions and discuss supply and demand factors and what’s going on around the world.”
 

How you can get involved

All Key Cooperative growers are invited to support their local ag program by donating additional bushels. If you’d like to donate, simply click here and fill out the donation form, which facilitates the transfer of your grain donation directly from your Key account to the FFA chapter of your choice. Visit our Community Involvement page to support your local FFA chapter!

 

North Polk FFA


Diamond Trail FFA


Colo Nesco FFA

 

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