TOPEKA – Touch corn, experience a virtual combine ride or sit tall in the saddle. All of these fun activities and many more will take place in Agriland at the 2013 Kansas State Fair. The cooperative agricultural education exhibit is located in the Pride of Kansas building. 

Agriland provides Kansans of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to learn about agriculture, the largest industry in Kansas. A special improvement for 2013 is the addition of white picket fencing, adding to the charm and appearance of this popular state fair exhibit. The purchase of the fencing was made possible by four family owned businesses in Southeast Kansas, including Crossland Construction, Lair Farms, Piqua Petro Macha Enterprises and LACO Seamless Guttering.

Kansas State Fair Board member Virginia Crossland-Macha was instrumental in securing the funding for the improvements and expressed her excitement for upgrading the fair exhibit. 

“This is a wonderful way to showcase Kansas agriculture and to share with children the importance of agriculture in our everyday lives,” she said.

Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman said Agriland provides the setting for young and old alike to learn more about agriculture firsthand and interact with those who raise crops and livestock.

“Agriland provides fairgoers a fun, interactive opportunity to learn about where our food comes from and how it is produced,” Rodman said. “The exhibit is a great place for families to learn together about the role farmers and ranchers have in the production of food, fiber and energy for consumers in Kansas and around the globe.”

Visitors to Agriland will have the opportunity to milk Blossom, a mechanical cow. They also can learn about livestock feed rations and touch different Kansas-grown grains. Attendees can walk into the soil tunnel trailer for an under-the-scenes look at what happens in the soils of Kansas.

Agriland is a collaborative effort of the Kansas Beef Council, the Kansas Corn Commission, Kansas Cotton, the Kansas Dairy Association, the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, the Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission, the Kansas Soybean Commission, the Kansas Sunflower Commission, Kansas Wheat, the Soil Tunnel Trailer, Kansas Agri-Women and the Kansas Department of Agriculture. 

Agriland will be open Friday, Sept. 6 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, Sept. 7 through Saturday, Sept. 14 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily; and Sunday, Sept. 15 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.  

For more information about Agriland, check out the exhibit’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kansasagriland or contact Beth Riffel, Kansas Department of Agriculture associate director of communications and events, at Beth.Riffel@kda.ks.gov or 785-207-4966.

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