Success Stories

The Real Dirt on Farming
Sask Pork

Students from Prince Albert will be treated this summer to tours of an apiary near P.A., a buffalo ranch south of Cudworth, and the Pork Interpretive Gallery at Elstow as part of year two of “The Real Dirt on Farming” tour organized by SaskPork.

“Not many youth are entering the industry,” says Jessica Podhordeski, Sask Pork’s Agri-Educations Coordinator, “so we try to show that it’s not just dirt and manure – agriculture is technical as well. We express how important agriculture is, and that no matter where you live, you rely on it. We talk about how food, clothes, shoes, and toothpaste all come from agriculture, so that they get some understanding and, hopefully, excitement.”

Sask Pork created the cross-commodity farm tour in response to teachers who said it was difficult to organize a day trip for just one stop at the Pork Interpretive Gallery. Podhordeski describes participating farms as both receptive and creative.

“We try to make it interactive, have a snack of some kind to show the final product. At the bee farm, the kids tried honey. The Bison Association donated bison jerky, so they could have some at the ranch. Pork samples are tricky, so we gave out ice cream instead.”

Bus rentals, and some of the travel costs, are funded by the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Saskatchewan (ACAAFS) Program.

“Schools express gratitude that the transportation and tours are free,” says Podhordeski. “Teachers have said that it’s an important program and it fits into the curriculum. Students seemed to love it! We did an evaluation with specific questions, one being ‘would you consider a career in agriculture?’ Some said ‘no, but I loved the tour.’ Others answered ‘maybe I would now after being on the tour’.”

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