On Tuesday, April 5, 2016, U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) in conjunction with Discovery Education, provided high school students nationwide a firsthand glimpse into contemporary agriculture through the Discovering FARMLAND Virtual Field Trip hosted at Deere & Company World Headquarters in Moline, Illinois. The Illinois Corn Marketing Board, through a corn checkoff dollar investment, supported this event to help make students and their teachers more aware of what really happens on farms. ICMB has also provided a copy of the Farmland DVD to libraries in Illinois so that more people have the opportunity to view the documentary film.

More than 1,200 classrooms and 37,000 students from urban and rural classrooms participated virtually. Attending in-person included USFRA’s board members, affiliates, industry partners, students and educators (from Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, Calamus Wheatland High School, North Scott High School, AlWood High School), Quad-Cities and ag trade media. The virtual field trip garnered nearly 30 media placements and features in affiliate newsletters.

MEDIA COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS:

CBS 8 San Diego – Students Nationwide Journey Inside Smart Farms

Discovery Education Blog – 4 Ways to Celebrate National Agriculture Day

EIN Newsdesk – Students Nationwide Journey Inside Smart Farms

FOX 8 New Orleans – Students Nationwide Journey Inside Smart Farms

Morningstar – Students Nationwide Journey Inside Smart Farms

Virtual-Strategy Magazine – Students Nationwide Journey Inside Smart Farms

Ag Information Network – The Smart Farm: Where Technology and Innovation Meet

AgriMarketing – U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance Launches Youth Educational Program

AgriTalk – Randy Krotz of USFRA joins the AgriTalk Panel as they talk about an ag virtual classroom

AgWeb – Students Take a Virtual High-Tech Farming Field Trip

AgWired – Discovering FARMLAND Offers Virtual Field Trip

FarmWeekNow – High schoolers featured in high tech field trip to farms

KMZU Radio –  U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance brings the farm to the classroom

KWQC-TV (NBC, Quad-Cities) – Students go on virtual field trip to various farms

Missouri Ruralist – Free field trip to a "Smart Farm"

Quad-City Times – Virtual reality helps farmers connect to kids, public

This Week in Agribusiness – Max Armstrong speaks with USFRA about an upcoming program that reaches high school students

WHBF-TV (CBS, Quad-Cities) – Students take virtual farm field trip

Wisconsin Farm Report – Students Nationwide Journey Inside Smart Farms

Additionally, FarmWeek, farmprogress.com, Good Housekeeping and Illinois AgriNews intend to run the story.