U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc., partners with National Agriculture in The Classroom to expand educational outreach

Hutchinson, KS – As agribusiness leaders continue to seek educational, yet entertaining, ways to tell the farm to table story, the U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc., (USCHI) board of directors announces its next advocating steps by partnering with National Ag in The Classroom (AITC) to expand its agricultural education outreach.

After the debut of the Great American Wheat Harvest documentary film, the true stories of the lives of custom harvesters garnered the attention of the AITC, an organization dedicated to increasing agricultural literacy amongst PreK-12th grade students and their teachers.

USCHI served as a platinum sponsor for the film and at its annual meeting earlier this year, USCHI board members voted to help AITC develop two education curriculum lessons accompanied with related-video companion pieces from the film. The lessons will debut at the 2016 AITC National Convention in Phoenix and made accessible to K-12 teachers around the country on the AITC National Agricultural Literacy Curriculum Matrix Website.

“We hope these newly developed educational materials will help provide educators the information they need to teach students about agribusiness opportunities, labor issues, production best practices and agriculture advocacy ,” says Mark Anderson, USCHI board member and chair of the educational committee. “We look forward to working with AITC and having input in these areas so our youth will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of America’s food system.”

According to AITC research, one out of five jobs in America is related to agriculture. And in the Midwest, the number increases to one out of three jobs. The lessons blend concepts and themes relating to agriculture with standard curriculum subjects including math, science, social studies, language arts, and nutrition.