WHEN Naracoorte mum Amanda Lock went looking for an agricultural memento her son could bring home from the Royal Adelaide Show for show and tell at school she found it a difficult task.
“All we could find to take to school was some flour Eddie milled in the Golden Grains pavilion, so we made a scrapbook of photos of the farm animals,” she said.
It was then that Mrs Lock became inspired to find an idea that ensured young children not only took home showbags, but a broadened view of agriculture from their time at the show.
Three years later and the #Agsplorers Track – an agriculturally-focused tour of the showground – will debut at this year’s show.
On the track, children and their parents will visit the SA Country Shows site, incorporating young judges and rural ambassadors, as well as the Golden Grains, poultry, sheep, beef cattle, pigs and dairy pavilions.
The former Rural Ambassador state winner was thrilled the track idea was accepted by the RA&HS of SA.
She hopes it will spark interest about agriculture in young minds, but also build the knowledge about where food comes from.
“I hope the track encourages adults to reconnect with agriculture, and children to explore the diversity of agriculture and farming,” she said. “We need the next generation to consider a career in agriculture.”
The track begins and ends at the BankSA Farmyard Nursery, with the bank the major sponsor of the #Agsplorers Track.
Along the way, participants will learn fun facts and collect educational information in the eight-page pull-out booklet, which has been inserted in 450,000 copies of the show magazine.
The magazine has been delivered to mailboxes and is available at Foodland and IGA stores. Another 20,000 will be available at the show.
Each page includes a photo of the section’s feature breed, a place to collect their feature breed stamp, an ‘agtivity’, quiz question, ‘agfacts’, a timetable for feature breed judging and young judging events, and a place to record their word clues.
Once participants collect all the word clues, they can solve a puzzle to claim a reward.
“The Adelaide Show is the premier agricultural event in SA and is promoted as where the city and country meet,” Mrs Lock said.
"What better opportunity is there to showcase, educate and engage people and the next generation about the importance of agriculture to the Australian economy and to everyday living?”
Show organisers are hoping track participants will embrace the #Agsplorer hashtag and add it to their social media posts.