Students learn about where the ingredients come from to make a York Peppermint Patty, including the mint extract harvested from mint leaves grown near Tulelake. February 21, 2019. Image by Brian Gailey/Klamath Falls News.

550 Fourth grade students from all corners of the Klamath Basin attended the 2019 Farm Expo held Wednesday and Thursday at the Klamath County Event Center. Since the 1970’s, students have had an opportunity for hands on learning about many different aspects of Klamath Basin Agriculture, including; 4-H, FFA, potato farming, cattle ranching, goats, irrigation, timber, grain, hay, dairy, bees and many more.

Chiloquin, Peterson, Shasta, Conger, Mills, Pelican, Roosevelt, Bonanza, Keno, Merrill, Malin, Ferguson, New Horizon, Gilchrist, Great Basin, Stearns, Henley, Triad and Hosanna all had students at the Farm Expo.

Chelsea Shearer, Executive Assistant of the Klamath Water Users Association spent two-days speaking to the children about how much water it takes to produce a single school lunch.

“How many gallons of water do you think it takes to make one hamburger bun?” Shearer asked.

One student responded, “five hundred!”

Shearer explained to the group, that 22 gallons of water are needed to grow the grain used to produce the bun, but 460 gallons are needed to grow the beef for the burger.

“Teaching the next generation about how important it is for farmers and ranchers to get their irrigation water is why we do this event,” says Shearer. “I love seeing the ‘ah-ha’ moments when they put together that water from the Klamath lake makes food here in the Basin. These kids are our future, and KWUA is going to do all we can to ensure we preserve it for them.”

During the day, students moved around the inside the Event Center cycling through approximately twenty demonstrations. Students spent 6 minutes at each demonstration. When the dinner bell sounded, it was time to move to the next.

The expo was open to the public until 8:00 PM Wednesday evening.

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