By Marlee Jackson

“What type of bees are these?”

“That’s hay!”

Covington County Young Farmers fielded copious questions and comical declarations from nearly 700 curious kindergartners during the group’s annual Farm Day March 5.

“Your shoes are brown! Mine are black,” one excited youngster told Mitchell Alexander, the Covington County Young Farmers chair who helped coordinate the fun, farm-centric field trip.

The kindergartner’s class was wrapping up its lesson at the cattle station, where Alexander explained the various goods that come from cattle — including leather used to make shoes. It’s important to help kids tangibly connect their lives with farming, Alexander said.

“Just to see their reactions and their interest in farming and wanting to know more about it — that makes the Farm Day worth it,” said Alexander, who raises cattle and works with PowerSouth Energy Cooperative. “It’s good to get everyone out here. Most of the kindergarten teachers say this is their favorite field trip.”

Long known as the Young Farmers Petting Zoo, the event modified its moniker this year to better reflect the day’s slate of activities. Young leaders coordinated the first event in the ‘90s, said Covington County Farmers Federation board member Ashley Kelley.

“Even though we’re in rural Covington County, there are still kids who don’t realize where their food comes from,” he said. “You can tell that by some of the questions they ask.”

Seven schools and a local daycare bused children to the Covington Center Arena, where Young Farmers parked mammoth machinery. The equipment doubled as educational exhibits and a playground, with students climbing in cabs to “say cheese” for teachers’ cameras.

They also learned about the larger-than-life pickers, combines and sprayers from Young Farmers who used posters and posed questions to pique kids’ curiosity.

“Do you know how wide these booms are?” asked Caleb Fleming, pointing to the folded arms of a towering spray rig.

“Four feet!” one student guessed.

“Five!” said another. 

“They’re 100 feet wide,” Fleming revealed.

“WHOA,” the children exclaimed.

Groups trooped through stations to learn about local agriculture such as cotton and peanuts, plus bees, forestry, hay and wildlife. Squeals and smiles abounded as students held chirping, downy, butter-yellow chicks; scooped cups of pellets to feed livestock; and gently petted goats, horses and donkeys.

The day’s success was a team effort that began during initial planning last fall, said Alexander.

“I’ve been involved in a lot of things, but these people get things done, and you don’t even have to ask,” Alexander said. “It takes every one of these guys to make it happen.”