LA PORTE, Ind. — Myron Schafer had a table full of toy tractors, combines, wagons and other farm equipment laid out in front three rows of makeshift wooden plank seats.

But the toys weren’t for play, and neither were the seats.

This was a temporary classroom staffed by Schafer and other members of the LaPorte County Row Crop Producers. They spent last Wednesday and Thursday marking the annual Ag Day observance at the National Guard Armory here with students from 15 elementary schools from around the county.

Students came from small towns such as Kingsbury, Kingsford Heights, Wanatah, LaCrosse and Union Mills, but also from the county’s two largest cities, LaPorte and Michigan City. More than 830 fourth-graders dropped by during the two-day event to learn how their food is produced and from where it comes.

“We’ve got an awful lot of information to talk about in the two hours they’re here,” said Schafer, a farmer near LaCrosse in southern LaPorte County. “We want them to get an inkling of where their food comes from. This is just a jumping-off point in the process to get them thinking about their food.

“Even though we only have eight minutes with each group, we find they’re genuinely interested in trying to learn something.”

At the end of each eight-minute session, a siren blew and students rotated to the next classroom until they had visited all 12.

Jeff Mitzner, who raises specialty crops including green beans, tomatoes and cucumbers, said he glad to be part of the two-day program.

“The kids ask a lot of questions,” said Mitzner, whose farm is near Wanatah. “They don’t ever think about where their pickles come from or what’s in the ketchup bottle. I try to explain that. And I’ve seen that their teachers are learning something, too.”

Gene Matzat, LaPorte County extension educator, said the annual program is set up to tell students about feeding the world and the importance of agriculture in their lives. The 12 stations set up for students to visit include dairy, beef, crops, alternative crops, crop protection, insects, poultry, rabbits, gardening, machinery, technology and water quality.

While the students get an opportunity to get up close with chickens and rabbits and sample yogurt, milk and other dairy products, each teacher is given an education packet they can use in the classroom to continue the discussion with their students.

Greg Werner, a LaCrosse farmer and president the LaPorte County Row Crop Food Producers, said, “It’s important that our youth of LaPorte County understand everyone who eats food is involved in agriculture. The crops grown and livestock raised here in LaPorte County help to feed them and others around the world.”

At the poultry station, Patty Janas, a long-time member of the 4-H Poultry Committee, was showing different varieties of chickens and eggs. “I love seeing their faces, especially when I show them how a chicken looks on a plate,” she said.

As she held a live chicken on its back to show where drumsticks and breast meat came from, one young girl covered her eyes. Janas noticed that, but said it’s important for the children to know that while they may get their food at the grocery store, it doesn’t come from there.

Teacher Jim Hartwick at Kingsbury Elementary School agreed. “As we move away from an agrarian society, my hope is that as the children leave here today, they have some understanding of how their food relates to farming. In a couple of days I’ll have the children make a book in class telling me what they remember of today’s visit.”

Leslie Mitchell, a teacher at Indian Trail Elementary in La Porte, added it’s important for children who live in town to know what’s being grown in their own county: “They will learn the different aspects of farming today and what a good job farmers do of feeding us and taking care of the environment.”

Otto Werner, a longtime crop producer near Hanna in southern LaPorte County, is the former head of the Row Crop Producers.

“We’ve been doing this for a long time and I think it’s something that’s very useful,” he said.

“I hope the children realize where everything they eat comes from. I hope they learn how farmers are doing their part to protect the environment.”

Paul Herrold, a Westville farmer, explained to fourth-graders his corn and soybean farm. As he showed a short video that ran on the computer screen beside him, he held up different products – a bag of Fritos, a can of Mountain Dew – that contained corn. “I want them to understand all the different uses there are for corn and I want to dispel a lot of misinformation about farmers and what we do. There are a lot of myths out, and I want them to see that we’re all about growing a safe product and that we care for the environment,” he said.