The University of Maryland Frederick County Extension office hosted its inaugural Agriculture Olympics event, bringing out over 400 local families to learn about Maryland’s top industry through interactive games and activities. These unique games brought together the community to teach about and celebrate the essential role of agriculture in our lives.
The Agriculture Olympics, held on October 5, 2024 at the Frederick County Farm Museum Fall Festival at Rose Hill Manor Park and Museum, featured a range of competitions that highlighted various agricultural industries and the skills that farmers need to succeed in these areas. Kids competed in the following games all while learning about the skills/attributes that farmers use to be successful in today’s agricultural world:
- Hay Bale Stacking - Think you can be STRONG like a farmer? Try your hand at stacking a pile of these straw bales and see how fast you can go!
- Cow-Milking - Think you can be PRECISE like a farmer? Try to milk the cow as quickly as you can without spilling a drop!
- Tractor Races - Think you can be CAREFUL like a farmer? Try not to hit any obstacles as you race through the fields!
- Feed Bag Toss - Think you can be TOUGH like a farmer? Be careful not to bust the bag while you throw it to where it needs to go!
- Egg Operation - Think you can be GENTLE like a farmer? Let’s see how many eggs you can collect without breaking them and making the buzzer go off!
- Compost Chaos - Think you can be SMART like a farmer? Try to see if you can sort all the trash and leftovers into the correct piles as fast as you can!
Close to 200 youth participated in all six competitions, said Joi Vogin, Frederick County Family and Consumer Sciences Educator. After completing each challenge, participants received a sticker for their “passport” which then qualified them to collect their prizes, including locally grown miniature pumpkins from Brookfield Farms.
The Frederick County Farm Museum Fall Festival featured educational workshops, tractor rides, live animals, bluegrass music, arts and crafts, tractor pulls, a cake auction, and more. Milkshake from the Frederick Flying Cows basketball team also made an appearance and participated in all the games.
“This event is not just a competition; it’s a celebration of the agricultural community’s hard work and innovation,” said Mark Townsend, Frederick County agriculture agent and member of the Agriculture Olympics Committee. “We aim to foster collaboration, share knowledge, and inspire future generations to embrace the agricultural industry.”
Anna Glenn, Frederick County 4-H agent and committee member, also noted that “We couldn’t have done this event without the support of our community partners.”
The Agricultural Olympics partnered with the Frederick County Parks and Rec and Frederick County Farm Museum Association, an organization that has long been dedicated to celebrating Frederick County’s rich agricultural history, to engage kids in a series of games to learn more about local agriculture. A big thank you goes out to Frederick County Parks and Rec, Frederick County Farm Museum Association, Horizon Farm Credit, Maryland Agriculture Council (MAC), The Community Foundation of Frederick County and the AG CITE fund, Frederick County Master Gardeners, Maryland 4-H, Maryland FFA, the Frederick County Office Agriculture, and the Frederick County Farm Bureau for their partnership in providing funding, coordination, and volunteers to make these games a reality.
For more information about the University of Maryland Extension and its community outreach programs, please visit https://extension.umd.edu/locations/frederick-county/ or call 301-600-1594. For more information about the Frederick County Farm Museum Association, please visit https://www.frederickcountyfarmmuseum.org/.