Folks of all ages can enjoy an entertaining, enlightening and up-close look at the fascinating world of agriculture at the sixth annual Ag Discovery Adventure. The event is Sept. 23 at Auburn University’s E.V. Smith Research Center in Shorter.

The free, family-oriented activities will be from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the 3,186-acre research center, just off Interstate 85 at Exit 26, between Montgomery and Auburn. The physical address is 4725 County Road 40, Shorter, Alabama.

Hosted by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station and Auburn’s College of Agriculture, Ag Discovery Adventure is designed to showcase agricultural technology and increase the non-farming public’s awareness of agriculture’s importance.

Activities include peanut digging, cotton picking and GPS-guided hayrides along with pumpkin and corn mazes.

Attendees also can learn valuable skills, such as how to cast a fishing pole and how to harvest rainwater. Musical entertainment includes traditional groups, bluegrass and the FFA state champion string band.

“Ag Discovery Adventure is an opportunity to ask questions concerning how your food and fiber are produced in the U.S.,” said adventure coordinator Lisa Kriese-Anderson. “It is also a time to ask how different careers fit into the agricultural system. Agriculture depends on highly advanced systems to ensure sustainability of our natural resources as well as continued low food prices for consumers.”

Those who attend Ag Discovery Adventure can bring picnic lunches to enjoy on the grounds or purchase hot-off-the-grill hamburgers and hot dogs on site from Auburn’s Collegiate Cattlemen and Cattlewomen.

Ag Discovery Adventure is co-sponsored by Alabama Cotton Producers, Alabama Soybean Producers Association, Alabama Wheat and Feed Grains Producers, the Alabama Farmers Federation, the Alabama Peanut Producers and the Alabama Poultry & Egg Association.

For more information, call (334) 844-4768 or email Kriese-Anderson at kriesla@aces.edu.

The E.V. Smith Research Center is the largest and most comprehensive of 15 outlying Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station research and extension facilities located in Alabama. The center is home to beef cattle, horticulture, plant breeding, field crops and biosystems engineering research units.