UF/IFAS EXTENSION AGENTS AND MASTER GARDENERS TO PARTICIPATE IN FLORIDA AG LITERACY DAY

UF/IFAS Extension agents and master gardeners will participate in the 12th annual Florida Agriculture Literacy Day on April 21, when they will read a non-fiction book about Florida’s livestock and poultry industry to elementary school students all over the state.

Florida Agriculture Literacy Day features farmers, ranchers, UF/IFAS Extension agents, master gardeners, teachers and students in Future Farmers of America and agriculture industry representatives reading to students about the importance of agriculture.

“IFAS has been very involved in the Ag Literacy Day, and a good reason for that is a lot of these county offices require them to go into classrooms,” said Lisa Gaskalla, executive director of Florida Agriculture in the Classroom Inc. “It’s an easy, free way for them to get into elementary classrooms in their county and establish relationships with those teachers and students and let them know what Extension is and how it can help them.”

This year’s book, ”Drive Through Florida: Livestock and Poultry,” is about an animated truck that takes students on a tour of Florida’s beef, dairy, poultry, swine, equine, sheep and goat industries. The book gives students a better understanding of the breadth of resources available in this state.

UF/IFAS has participated in Florida Agriculture Literacy day every year since it began in 2004 and about one-fourth of all of the readers are UF/IFAS Extension staff or master gardeners, Gaskalla said.