CAFNR Week celebrates agriculture at MU

The week's events ended Thursday.

By Joyu Wang

Published Sept. 24, 2010

The College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources’ week of events ended Thursday with a barnwarming at Snorty Horse Saloon.

CAFNR Week consists of a series of events and activities that started Sept. 16.

“We are trying to get more students in CAFNR involved and the whole campus to be more informed of agriculture,” CAFNR Week Steering Committee Tri-Director Amanda Eiberger said.

Previously known as “Ag Week,” CAFNR Week now aims to celebrate all the different student organizations and departments in the college, instead of just the agricultural groups. Eiberger said CAFNR Week is growing each year.

The week started with a service event at the Central Missouri Food Bank.

“It was a wonderful success,” Eiberger said. “People love it, and the volunteer food bank loves that we were all there.”

She said she thinks volunteering at the food bank will continue in the future.

On Monday, the Lil Ag Expo took place on Lowry Mall. Meals were provided to students who participated in three or more table presentations from various student organizations in CAFNR. At the Expo, each club in CAFNR was assigned different agricultural topics to promote or agricultural myths to dispel.

Junior agricultural business major Phillip Durbin worked the Agricultural Economics Club table. He presented global agriculture production statistics. He said many people do not know about the importance of American agriculture.

“Many people do not realize the United States is the one of the top agriculture-producing countries,” Durbin said. “People need to be aware that we produce a lot of corn, soy beans and wheat to export to other countries.”

Ag Ed Society President Jon Kirchhoff said he agrees people are not well-informed of agricultural topics.

“A lot of people don’t realize how important the agriculture industry is and what it can do,” Kirchhoff said. “Our job is to get (the information) out there and make sure everybody is educated about how agriculture is important so that we can keep producing for the world.”

Sophomore journalism student Jillian Jackson said she had not heard about CAFNR Week before but does know about the import and export of agricultural items today.

“I am surprised about how much we export,” she said.

The Skit Night, which included the King and Queen Contest, was also held Monday.

“The King and Queen candidates get up there, dance and sing,” Eiberger said. “It is a lot of fun because they poke fun at people and also get to come out of their shell a little more.”