Mark your calendars: New activities planned this year at Farmamerica – Southernminn.com

For Jessica Rollins, one of the chief challenges as Farmamerica's executive director is making the center appealing to visitors.

"I think a lot of people see the words 'interpretive center' and wonder why they would want to come out here," she said.

She thinks the events she and the Farmamerica board have planned for this year, though, promise to provide a memorable experience for area residents and other visitors.

Rollins came on board as Farmamerica's executive director last fall, and since then has worked to find new ways to communicate the story of agriculture in southern Minnesota to visitors as part of the center's mission.

The board is in the final stages of developing its strategic plan, which it will unveil at its annual meeting April 17.

"That will give us some good direction," Rollins said. "It's been a couple years since we've looked at a strategic plan. Ive gotten five months under my belt to assess whats happened in the past and to make some decisions about where we think we want to go."

Farmamerica Board Chair Warren Formo says the main focus of this process has involved reviewing the center's plan, making sure it tracks with where the board wants to see Farmamerica go in the future.

"Our core mission of being a place where people can experience and learn about the evolution of Minnesota agriculture has not changed," he said. "We're still committed to telling the story of agriculture over the last 150 years."

The piece that's new, he said, is the board's effort to include more about ongoing issues within agriculture right now.

That includes adding fields and exhibits that demonstrate what's happening in agriculture. Among the additions visitors to the center will see this year are plantings of modern hybrids that have biotechnology traits, with signage that explains how they came to be, what their purpose is and how they fit into modern farming.

There will also be more focus on technology in farming, with events that will put some of those things on display.

As usual, the center will provide school tours in May, and has already had over 900 students signed up. In addition to the traditional tour, Farmamerica this year offers a revamped version that provides more hands-on experience to students.

These activities include washing clothes by hand, old-fashioned schoolyard games and the opportunity to shear a "sheep," or rather a fake sheep covered in shaving cream which students can scrub off. Students will also get to compare and contrast the ag equipment today with that of the past.

"Well have some modern equipment onsite for them to climb up in and see how it looks compared to stuff farmers were using 100 years ago," Rollins said.

Also new this year are Community Education classes Farmamerica will offer in June and July.

One class for kindergarteners through second-graders focuses on apples, making use of a small apple orchard that was donated to the center.

"The apples are planted in chronological order of how apple varieties developed in southern Minnesota," Rollins said. "It's a neat space and we want to utilize it and tell that story."

For second- through fourth-graders, there will be a class through which they can learn about soil, planting and seeds. Students will make a terrarium and a seed mosaic art piece.

Third- through fifth-graders will also learn about soil, learning about worms.

Sprinkled in between these activities will be regular summer tours, taking place on second Saturdays in June, July, August and September.

In partnership with the Waseca County Farm Bureau, Farmamerica hosts the Taste of the Farm June 13. This event, which the center previously hosted in 2015, will feature a free meal and events for all ages.

The center holds an ice cream social the second Saturday in July.

The big event Rollins is currently trying to get her head around is a "meatapalooza," a meat education event planned for Aug. 12.

This year will feature pork and beef, but could in the future expand to other meats like poultry.

"I come from a pork background. I know pork better," Rollins said. "Pulling off an event like this for the first time, it's good for me to stick with something I know."

Different from the center's other events, attendees will be asked to buy their tickets to this event ahead of time. There will be meat samples and demonstrations, and Rollins is hoping to partner with a brewery to provide a beer tasting.

"The Minnesota Beef Council did an event like this up in the Twin Cities in February," Rollins said. "I kind of had the idea before, then I went to the event and realized this is a fantastic opportunity for everybody to learn about meat."

On Sept. 9, Farmamerica hosts its Fall Fair, which will be largely the same as it has been in past years. October will features more school tours, its Haunted Corn Maze and could see the return of its All Hallow's Eve event, which features activities for kids.

"I think theres a lot of that's already going on in the community for them to choose from," Rollins said. "Our attendance has been down the last couple years so we didnt do it last fall. But we also heard people liked it, so we might try to bring it back."

Other plans include a hands-on exhibit about corn targeted for July, provided for by funding from the Minnesota Corn Growers Association.

We're working with them and designers to make sure the message is accurate and the hands-on experience is good for people 9 to 109," she said. "That's tricky the message you say to a third-grader is pretty basic compared to what you can start talking about with an adult consumer. At the end of the day I think the simpler, the better."

Farmamerica has received grant money to go into classrooms and talk with students about agriculture. However, Rollins is now thinking about bringing kids to the center for a full-day experience. The focus will be on career opportunities, both generally and in agriculture.

"We have so much space here," Rollins said. "If we can get the schools interested, itd be fun to bus them out for the full day, versus going out there for one class session where I come into the room and talk about some stuff, then Ill leave and theyll never see me again. I think this will have a more lasting impact for them."

She wants to pilot that in May, work out the kinks and kick it off next school year.

As she has been involved with this decision-making process, Rollins has adjusted to her new position with the center.

"Its different every day," she said. "There's a lot of moving pieces, and just when I think I have one piece figured out, five more fall out of place Everything will come together, I have no doubt. There's just a lot of unexpected things along the way."

All that aside, she says she has had a wonderful experience.

The board made the decision to change the executive director position from part-time to full-time when it brought Rollins on board. Formo says this has allowed Rollins to devote more time to developing some of the educational materials the board is talking about.

"In the past, we've done that in kind of a piecemeal fashion, but now, by having someone who has the skill set and understands some of the modern issues, she's able to do more of that sort of work," Formo said.

With spring approaching, Formo says, visitors will see gardens planted and animals on the farms.

"As people are thinking about their spring and summer plans, I hope they include Farmamerica," he said.

Everyone Rollins has spoken within the ag industry, she says, can see the potential Farmamerica has.

"Theyre excited to see how our strategic plan shakes out because they want to be part of it," she said.

That potential is something Rollins is excited to build on.

"Eventually, I want it to be an expert place to go if you need information about anything agriculture," she said. "That kind of sounds like what the University of Minnesota Extension is doing, but I'd like for us to be a place where you can maybe experience it hands-on. Were not quite there yet but the potential is there."

Reporter Jacob Stark can be reached at 837-5451 or follow him on Twitter @WCNjacob.

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Mark your calendars: New activities planned this year at Farmamerica - Southernminn.com