BROOKINGS (9-22-26) — South Dakota State University is holding a “Farm to Finish Line” race this weekend.
Allie Arp is with the SDSU College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences… “It shows people a different side of agriculture. They get to start off at our ruminant nutrition center, and then go through a dairy barn, and by the feed mill — and it’s really a way to show off the research happening at South Dakota State when it comes to agriculture and help people connect with farming in a unique way.”
She said there’s also a free “Breakfast on the Farm” event… “We’ll have tons of interactive activities for families. You can learn to make butter, you can interact with some animals, you can plant a seed, and so all these things to help connect people with where their food comes from, with farming and ranching.”
Arp said the race itself is mostly just-for-fun… “It’s not a road race. It’s almost entirely on grass. You’ll be going through pastures, and we have some people excited to walk. Then the first and second place in each age category will get the champion and reserve champion ribbon — county fair style.”
Registration details are posted online… “All of the information can be found on the Farm to Finish Line either Facebook event or on the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences blog. We have a post there with all the race information, all the breakfast information. That’s where the race will start, race will end and where the big breakfast event will be.”
Arp said the idea is to connect people with where their food comes from… “We really wanted to provide an opportunity for people to directly see field-to-plate, or animal-to-plate, where does my food come from, what does it look like? And then by making these connections, if they have any questions about agriculture, if while they’re shopping they see a label that doesn’t really make sense then they have those connections to reach out to, to come back, to get those questions answered.”
Farm to Finish Line is September 26 — learn more or register through the Farm to Finish Line page on Facebook. Learn more about Breakfast on the Farm through the Breakfast on the Farm Facebook page. Race registration is $35. The breakfast event is free.
— Brookings Radio News
