NFU brings farming to life for Britain’s primary school pupils

Nearly 90,000 primary school pupils across the UK will learn from farmers about British food production, and how the core science topics they learn in school are integral to agriculture.

NFU Education’s Science Farm Live lessons will take place in classrooms during British Science Week, to run from 11-20 March.

See also: Climate-friendly farm inventions on display in parliament

The programme includes learning about the life cycles of livestock and hearing from Derbyshire dairy farmer and Farmers Weekly award winner Jess Langton about reducing cow methane emissions.

Insect expert Sally-Ann Spence, a fellow at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, will talk about minibeasts such as dung beetles and explain their important role in farming

So far, 1,438 schools and 89,636 pupils have signed up to the Science Farm Live programme.

The free lessons will take place from 14-17 March and follow on from the successful debut of the programme last year.

Farmer with schoolchildren

© NFU

NFU president Minette Batters said: “Science is such an integral part of farming; we are not just food producers, we are scientists, environmentalists, animal experts and technological innovators.

“These lessons transport the world of real-life farming into classrooms across the country, helping to bring core science topics and the exciting career opportunities within agriculture to life.

“I would encourage all farmers to reach out to their local primary schools and encourage them to get involved.”

The Science Farm Live programme joins other projects from the NFU Education team, including the popular Farmvention challenge, Farmers for Schools and STEMterprise.

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