Chamber

Ag in the Bag

Co-Chairpersons:
Lynn Simmons, South Plains Electric Cooperative
Tanya Bishop, Capital Farm Credit

Click here for more information on sponsoring Ag in the Bag!

This year's Ag in the Bag program will be October 26, 27 and 28, 2010.

Ag in the Bag is a program of the Agriculture Committee of the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. A subcommittee of dedicated volunteers began this program eight years ago when a need was expressed for agricultural education programs for elementary school-age students.

Originally, Ag in the Bag was held in conjunction with the Farmer-Stockman Show, an annual event held in October showcasing farming and ranching. When the Farmer-Stockman Show folded in 2002, the event was moved to the South Plains Fairgrounds in one of the livestock pavilions.

Then, as the program continued to grow, it caught the eye of leaders in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Texas Tech University, and they wanted to make Ag in the Bag a part of their annual “Ag Awareness Week.” So the event moved once again to the Livestock Arena at Texas Tech, where it remains today.

The committee dubbed the event “Ag in the Bag” because the participants are provided with lunch and are taught how each component of that lunch relates back to agriculture. The day begins at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 1:30 p.m. with snack breaks included in addition to the lunch.

Throughout the day, participants visit various stations and learn about agriculture, including cotton, corn, peanuts, wheat, sorghum, food science, beef, water, and the Mobile Dairy Classroom. The curriculum primarily targets fourth-grade students, but we have had several third- and fifth-grade classes as well. All presenters are local Chamber members, combining resources from state agencies, Texas Tech, commodity groups and others. The volunteer committee includes all these plus a local electric cooperative, farm credit banks, and other member businesses.

This program has gained remarkable popularity over the years. In 2000, about 100 students visited four stations, learning about different aspects of agriculture. In 2009, more than 1,400 students and teachers from public, private and home schools in Lubbock and the surrounding area attended over the three-day period in October. We filled the Texas Tech Livestock Arena to capacity each day and still had a waiting list of more than 600 students.

Ag in the Bag brings together a large group of Chamber members with a common interest in educating our children about the importance of agriculture, which is a billion-dollar industry in Lubbock and the South Plains region. This alone makes the economic impact of our program tremendous because we are infusing this knowledge in our future community leaders. Other partners include Texas AgriLife Extension, Texas Farm Bureau and numerous commodity groups and various other Chamber members who generously support this program through sponsorships.

Our program is especially unique because we have the opportunity to reach many who have little or no agricultural background, since about 75% of the participants are from the Lubbock Independent School District. We also provide teachers with information packets and binders so they can continue their agricultural education efforts in their classrooms.

Sponsorships are available; they make it possible for us to offer this program to the schools at no cost. For more information on sponsorships, click here, call Mary Jane Buerkle at (806) 761-7008, or Lynn Simmons at (806) 775-7826.