Grant allows for Riverview students’ agricultural education
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Students at Verner Elementary School in Verona took an informative field trip when they travelled in May to Pleasant Lane Farms in Unity Township to learn about its “smart barn” and robotic milking facility.
The filed trip was part of a $7,000 grant that Riverview School District received from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to promote agricultural education and school partnerships with local farms. The grant enabled each student to receive two lessons on agriculture covering plant growth and needs and types of farms.
In addition to the trip to Pleasant Lane, visits from representatives of Blackberry Meadows Farm in Fawn taught the Verner students about the life cycle of strawberries, and each youngster had the opportunity to plant a marigold and decorate their own pot to bring the flower home.
Pleasant Lane Farm, established in 1976, is known for its artisan cheeses. Owners Ralph and Anne Frye recently installed a robotic milking system to make the process more efficient, and that system was one of the stars of the day for the students’ learning experience.
Upon arriving at Pleasant Lane, the youngsters were given an opportunity to help clean and milk some of the dairy cows by hand. Some students even opted to kiss one of the cows.
The students thenwere split into stations in which they learned a different lesson at each. At the first station, they were informed about the farm’s contribution to Turner Dairy in Penn Hills. Some of the extra milk not being made into cheese gets sent to Turner.
Another station featured the baby cows with which many of the students interacted, and a third station was a tube gun used for giving the cows flu shots, electrolytes and any pills, vitamins or medication they may need.
The final station featured the new robotic milking system, in which the milking and transportation of the product is handled by an automated process. The system also handles pasteurization, in which the milk is heated for 17 seconds in order to destroy any potential bacteria before being cooled back down to 40 degrees.
The students learned a wide variety of facts during the process, including the different fat levels in milk, that cows are milked 320 days per year, and that cows can actually die if they’re not properly milked. Students also had the opportunity to sample some string cheese, Colby Jack cheese and homemade ice cream.
“I was very happy to be a part of this project,” Riverview life skills teacher Mike MacConnell, who helped organize both the grant and the field trip said. “The students should know how their food is made and where it is coming from.”
The day was popular among the students, who had a chance to break up the school routine and spend a nice day in the countryside while also learning plenty of information about the farming process.
“We got to pet baby cows, I saw them give one of the cows a pill, and I got to eat chocolate ice cream at the end,” student Grayson Yorio said, enthusiastically.
Classmate Vanessa Hysong commented on learning new facts.
“I learned that all cows have different spots and no two are alike, not even twins.
And fellow student Allie Costa said:
“I really enjoyed petting the baby cows and letting them suck on my finger. Their tongues felt like sandpaper.”
Also part of the grant was a visit from a pig farmer presenting on the topic of animal husbandry.