The Farmers Union Ag Expo Center opened at the Brown County Fair on August 12, 2024. In this interactive space, the state’s largest agricultural organization brings South Dakota residents who do not live and work on farms and ranches together with the people and animals who do live and work there.
“Even though agriculture is our state’s most important industry, not many of the farm kids I grew up with became farmers. And that’s not an isolated case,” said Doug Sombke, president of the South Dakota Farmers Union and a fourth-generation farmer in Brown County. “As South Dakotans lose their connection to family farms and ranches, it becomes important to educate them about where their food comes from and how it is grown.”
Designed for hands-on learning, the Farmers Union Ag Expo Center features a sow and her piglets, chickens and hatching eggs, and a cow expected to calve during the Brown County Fair. There are also interactive games to teach children and families where their food comes from – the animals, soil, plants and people that make up South Dakota’s largest agricultural industry.
“We worked to create a space with interactive exhibits and livestock so that South Dakotans of all ages can engage with agriculture,” said Samantha Bowman, education program specialist for the South Dakota Farmers Union.
Bowman led the collaborative design effort for the 5,000-square-foot building, which was sponsored by the South Dakota Farmers Union.
“Education has been a focus of our organization for over a century, so this Ag Expo Center aligns with our mission,” said Karla Hofhenke, executive director of the South Dakota Farmers Union. “As people in South Dakota move further away from their farms, they no longer have the opportunity to interact with livestock or crops, so we wanted to create a place where they could do that.”
The Brown County Fair is one of the largest fairs in the state, welcoming more than 280,000 visitors each year. Rachel Kippley, Brown County Fair and Parks Director, finds the fair in Aberdeen, the state’s third-largest city, and says this new exhibit just makes sense. Because even though Brown County is one of the state’s top agricultural producing counties, many children growing up in Aberdeen don’t have the opportunity to visit a farm.
“Our fair board was excited to partner with the Farmers Union to bring the Ag Expo Center to our fair,” said Kippley, who also farms with her family. “Connecting consumers to agriculture has always been a part of what happens naturally at the Brown County Fair through our livestock barns and shows. And now with the Farmers Union Ag Expo Center, we can be more intentional about giving visitors information about where their food comes from and who grows it.”
The South Dakota State Fair and the Sioux Empire Fair have similar facilities to the Farmers Union Ag Expo Center. The South Dakota Farmers Union said its leadership team is eager to sponsor more agricultural education spaces at other fairs in the state.
“Consumer education is one of the many ways we support family farms and ranchers,” Sombke said.
For more information about the South Dakota Farmers Union, visit www.sdfu.org. And to tour the South Dakota Farmers Union Ag Expo Center, visit the Brown County Fair. The fair runs August 12-18. Admission and parking are free. For more information, visit browncountysdfair.com.
