Summer Virtual Teacher Tours Media Advisory

St. Paul, MN - More than 60 teachers from across Minnesota will join Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom beginning Tuesday, June 15, 2021 for the first of four virtual agriculture tours to help educators learn and plan curriculum for the fall.

The tours, which shifted to a virtual presence last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will take place via Zoom, beginning at 9 a.m. and running for 2-3 hours on each of the following dates:

• Tuesday, June 15, 2021: Wheat - From the Farm to the Plate, including visits to a wheat farm, Northern Crops Institute in Fargo, N.D., and Bakers Field Flour and Bread bakery in Minneapolis. A 5:30 p.m. continuation of the tour will include a virtual cooking class with professional chef Joel Gamoran.

• Tuesday, June 22, 2021: Agriculture - Local to Global, including visits to a soybean farm, Northern Crops Institute, and Featherstone Farm near Rushford, MN.

• Tuesday, July 13, 2021: 'Sota Grown Food Pod, focusing on a Wadena, MN hydroponic container farm.

• Tuesday, July 20, 2021: Soil Fuels Success, examining conservation tillage at the Ponwith Family Farm near Cleveland, MN.

Any media interested in participating in the tours should email keri.sidle@state.mn.us for more information.

Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom is a public/private partnership between the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation that provides free curriculum, educational resources, grants, outreach, and professional development opportunities to increase ag literacy through K-12 education.