Lacombe County council hesitated to delve deeper into an agricultural tour for kids as the price tag was seen as substantial. The discussion was held at the Jan. 29 regular meeting of council.

Councillors heard a report from Manager of Agriculture and Environmental Services Mike Bates regarding the Education Ag Tour (EAT), a program being offered in a neighbouring municipality. “Administration has prepared the following report outlining the Rocky Mountain House Agricultural Society (RMHAS) and Clearwater County EAT tour,” stated Bates’ report to council. “The action requested of council is consideration of hosting a similar educational farm tour for elementary school students in Lacombe County.”

Councillors previously discussed the EAT program and asked staff to research and report back on how the program could be introduced locally.

“The EAT tour is a partnership between RMHAS and Clearwater County,” stated the staff report. “The tour is a field trip for Gr. 4 students within Clearwater County, which takes students through local farms with the overarching goal of teaching students about agriculture.

“Organization and planning of the tour is guided by a committee consisting of eight RMHAS members and six Clearwater County staff members. The primary partner in the tour is RMHAS, with Clearwater County providing administrative and operational support of the tour.”

Bates provided councillors with a breakdown of roles and responsibilities for this program, both of municipal staff and volunteers.

During discussion Bates noted the program involves field trips for Gr. 4 students to visit regional farms to see first-hand how agriculture works.

Bates noted that the EAT program near Rocky Mountain House costs about $8,000 per year to operate, including details such as busing costs, while the time commitment from staff and volunteers was estimated at about 1,440 man-hours per year, including such things as committee meetings, set-up, tour and tear-down.

Several times during the discussion EAT was compared to Lacombe County’s existing student agricultural tour program, Farm Safety Day. Bates noted in his report the safety day hosts students from across the municipality and offers them activities and events with the goal of promoting farm safety. Additionally, safety day is sponsored and includes some classroom presentations. It was noted safety day’s costs are lower than EAT and work is considerably less, about a third of EAT.

As councillors discussed the report they noted the EAT program appeared to be a lot more work than safety day and probably wouldn’t be possible in Lacombe County unless volunteers and sponsors stepped up.

Among the comments councillors made while discussing EAT was the possibility of inviting only teachers along on an ag tour in the future. Councillors observed that some teachers hail from urban areas where they may have been exposed to little or no agricultural activity.

Councillors accepted the EAT report for information.