MO lawmakers expand ag education in early grades

A pilot program to expose elementary students to agricultural education and career options may soon be a permanent, statewide option.

There has been virtually no resistance to Senate Bill 1383 and House Bill 2097 during this legislative session.

Perry Gorrell, chief of government relations for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the proposals seek to significantly expand a pilot program started just prior to the pandemic.

“There is a likelihood that that bill will get across the finish line,” Gorrell told the State Board of Education during a March 24 meeting. “And it is something that we already have in place. We already have the curriculum.”

Multiple groups voiced support for the expansion during a mid-February hearing including the Missouri Farm Bureau Missouri Soybean Association, Missouri Corn Growers Association Inc. and Missouri Pork Association, among others. There has been virtually no opposition.

The bill proposed by state Sen. Barbara Washington, D-Kansas City, has been voted out of the Senate. The companion bill has been referred to the House Special Committee on Rural Issues for a hearing.

A pilot program in elementary agricultural education ran from 2020 through 2023. Proposed legislation calls for the option to be widely available by the start of the 2027-28 year.

In Missouri, agricultural education is not uncommon at the high school level and is available in a growing number of middle schools, according to DESE. The Missouri FFA Association, as it is called, is also active in many districts.

Springfield Public Schools expanded its commitment to agricultural education by opening the Ag Academy in August 2022. The magnet school, in collaboration with the Darr Family Foundation and Missouri State University’s William H. Darr College of Agriculture, serves up to 150 students annually in grades 4-6.

“Ag is all around us, and being able to access it with the students in these grade levels, they’re able to see it, understand it and then connect to it when they might not have been able to in the past,” said Alyssa Wicklund, a teacher at the SPS Ag Academy. “We do a lot of hands-on, experiential learning.”

Located at the MSU Darr Agricultural Center, the academy includes classrooms, a garden, a chicken coop, a greenhouse, and a demonstration kitchen.

Wicklund said students learn about plants from seed to harvest and develop entrepreneurial skills by participating in a farmers’ market. She said some students have an ag background, but many others do not.

“It’s very diverse. We have some students who want to know more and so we try to give them experiences that they can take home and try on their own,” she said.

She said the academy allows students to explore a variety of ag-related careers from nutrition and farming to veterinary medicine and culinary.

Wicklund said while she was not comfortable weighing in on the legislative proposal, she was supportive of giving students the option of engaging in hands-on agricultural education in early grades.

“It’s opened doors for our students. It is pushing them to be more curious,” she said. “We did observation today and one of the kids posed a question that I hadn’t even thought of so I am learning right there with them.”

Ag Academy is not the only ag-related program in SPS. The district also offers Ag Education on the Move, a 10-week course.

“We have garden clubs. There are 30 in-ground school gardens. We have six with heated high tunnels and six with heated greenhouses,” said Teresa Bledsoe, director of communications for SPS. “There are also more than 50 of those hydroponic towers in schools and buildings throughout the district.”

If the legislation is approved and signed into law, DESE will create a process for districts to participate, and school boards that opt in will have the option of employing an ag teacher paid for by district funds.

The state would also be expected to collaborate with Missouri agricultural commodity groups to develop lessons for the program and support districts that request the program.

DESE has developed curriculum for general and advanced agricultural education courses along with ag business and management, ag mechanics and technology, food science, plant science and natural resources.

The legislation also calls for DESE to evaluate the programs and report the results publicly, on its website.

There is a fiscal not attached to the bill that estimates implementation will cost $126,700 in FY27, primarily for professional development. The slightly lower annual amount of $119,000 is estimated for FY28 and FY29.