Earlier in March (prior to our current lockdown rules) Bruce our Education officer was able to participate in a Food and Fibre day at The Armidale School. Bruce together with UNE SMART Farm Education Officer Allison Stewart attended a year 5 class and gave a presentation about Past, Present and Future farming practices.
The students learned about the Poultry Industry and were surprised to learn that on average, they consume 245 eggs and almost 50 kg of chicken meat per year. There were many great questions from the students and even the teachers!
Following the discussion Bruce led the students through an egg quality activity where the students candled, weighed, measured the shape ratio, checked the egg for abnormalities and scored the shell & yolk colour. Some of the students remarked at “how cool” and “yummy” eggs are during the activity.
Allison then talked the class about pasture and how new technologies allow producers to measure pasture height using satellites and drones. She even demonstrated a drone that measures the height of pasture in the classroom.
The session was well received and we will return later in the year to run another session where we will focus more on the chicken meat industry.
