Missouri public school students could see more agriculture-based science lessons starting in kindergarten through high school under bills prefiled in both state legislative chambers that would establish a new statewide program.
Lawmakers in the state’s more populous cities filed the bills, hoping agriculture education can benefit students in both urban and rural areas.
“I am a proponent of continuing to have (agriculture education) … and not just in our rural schools but to have this everywhere so that our kids are exposed to agriculture as a science,” state Sen. Barbara Washington, a Democrat from Kansas City, told The Independent.
She filed the bill for the second year in a row, inspired by personal experiences eating homegrown food and visiting Kansas City schools that incorporate agriculture into education.
The legislation uses an existing statute, which established a pilot program for agriculture education in 2020, to make way for a permanent program that can be rolled out statewide.
The pilot ran from 2020 to 2023, starting with 44 teachers in third through fifth grades participating. When it ended, only 20 teachers were participating. The COVID-19 pandemic put stress on the program, according to the program’s final report, and teachers had mixed feelings about the curriculum.
In periodic surveys, educators said they didn’t have enough time to complete the lessons in their entirety but said the hands-on activities kept students engaged. While the pilot program set the framework for the bill, the legislation would not lock in the same program curriculum or format. It would also be voluntary.
State Rep. John Martin, a Republican from Columbia, said he sees opportunities for the state to partner with Missouri Farmers Care. The nonprofit, which advocates for expanded agriculture opportunities, has a program called Agriculture Education on the Move, which is currently in some of the state’s public schools.
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which would be responsible for overseeing the program, is open to public-private partnerships.
“It is our intention to work side by side with the many current commodities groups that are providing this access currently,” the department’s spokesman said in an emailed statement. “It is our hope with this legislation to provide continued access for students in learning about agriculture in the state of Missouri.”
Martin started sponsoring the bill last year after Columbia Democratic state Rep. Adrian Plank asked him to team up.
Plank was the first to file the bill in 2024, but it didn’t get any traction. Last year, with Martin filing an identical bill, it passed a House committee with unanimous approval. But the momentum was stifled after Plank took a leave of absence to undergo heart surgery.
“Me and him together, we should be able to get it on to something this year, pretty easily,” Plank told The Independent.
Gov. Mike Kehoe appears to be supportive of the legislation, Martin told The Independent, and there is growing interest from agriculture organizations.
“Those farmers who come to my office are so anxious to be a part of exposing their world to children at a younger age,” Washington. “And if we expose the children to agriculture now, then they know that there are opportunities for them in the workforce.”
The estimated cost, based on last year’s fiscal note, is limited to teacher training at $116,000 annually.
“If the program gets bigger, which I believe it will, then we will go and advocate for funding for the program,” Plank said. “Especially if it is going to be as successful as I think it will be.”
This story was first published by the Missouri Independent.
