Illinois
Fertilizer Conference Proceedings
January 27-29, 2003
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Lisa Muirheid Martin and Jean Trobec1
FREC Project 247
This FREC project funded the purchase and current distribution of workbooks/coloring books entitled "Fun with the Plant Nutrient Team." These books, developed by the Potash & Phosphate Institute and the Foundation for Agronomic Research, target third and fourth graders to teach them the importance of plant nutrients in the production of food and fiber. The project was coordinated by the Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Association (IFCA), a statewide association whose membership consists of owners, managers, and employees of retail agrichemical facilities located in Illinois, as well as representatives of pesticide, fertilizer, and agricultural equipment manufacturers. The majority of IFCA's 1,000+ members are directly responsible for serving the needs of Illinois' agricultural producers. IFCA is committed to developing and helping to implement programs that upgrade and enhance the safe handling and efficient use of agricultural chemicals and commercial fertilizers.
The project was created because the IFCA Board of Directors and IFCA Agronomy Committee feel strongly that the IFCA become more involved in the education of children on the importance of plant nutrients. A recent "on-thestreet" survey performed by PotashCorp in the Chicago area found that most people had a negative view when asked specifically about "fertilizer." The public's feedback indicated that they felt that fertilizers were the same as pesticides and generally not good for the environment. However, when asked the same questions about their feelings about "plant nutrients," the response was much different. The public generally had positive feelings about nutrients and felt they were important to farmers and to lawns and trees, as well. These on-the-street interviews are available in the video or CD-ROM "Fertile Minds," which is available on the PotashCorp website at www.potashcorp.com.
Before submitting our grant application, IFCA obtained commitments from 14 of our dealer-members to utilize the workbooks by making personal educational presentations on the importance of plant nutrients to third-graders or their teachers in the schools in their territory. In addition, we also distributed the books through more dealer-members who volunteered after learning about the project. This past summer, we distributed the workbooks directly to interested teachers through the Summer Ag Institutes and County Ag Literacy Coordinators. Through our participation in the Ag Literacy Awareness Conference and the Illinois Science Teachers Conference in 2001and 2002, we were also able to provide hundreds of copies of the workbooks to interested teachers.
To date, we have distributed over 10,000 books throughout Illinois. IFCA coordinated the distribution of the books, including the accompa-nying teacher guides where appropriate. The distribution as of December 1, 2002 appears in the shaded chart below.
The workbooks were well received by teachers and students. We could not fill all the requests for some schools, as our funding was limited. For example, McHenry County requested books for all third- and fourth-grade students in the county, but we were only able to supply them with one book per classroom. It is evident that these workbooks and teacher guides cover subject matter that the students and even some teachers have not been exposed to before. While we are in the process of distributing over 10,000 workbooks this year, there will be an ongoing demand each year as new students enter the school system and we attempt to supply each of them with a workbook.
As the number of persons employed in the agricultural industry diminishes and urbanoriented populations grow, educating our youth about plant nutrients and their important role in a free society is paramount. The fertilizer dealers recognize the vital importance of ag education; however, we have experienced some frustration in the past in that there has never been a specific "nutrient" education program available. These workbooks are excellent and are one part of a series of three other booklets that provide even more specific information about N, P, and K and their role in plant growth.
Our dealers are enthusiastic about taking this program into their schools. Without the funding assistance we received, our ability to administer this undertaking would have been severely limited. The expendable dollars that an individual dealership has to participate in voluntary education activities is limited, and, therefore, we are grateful to FREC for the assistance provided in ensuring that a positive message about plant nutrients is planted in the minds of our youth.
FREC helped IFCA get this important educational program off the ground. However, even with this funding it is evident that we have reached only a small fraction of the schools and children statewide that could benefit from the use of the workbooks in their classroom.
| Agrichemical dealers | 6,769 books |
| Distribution directly to schools | 3,000 books |
| County Ag Literacy Coordinators | 600 books |
| Illinois Science Teachers Conference (2001) | 190 books |
| Illinois Science Teachers Conference (2002) | 235 books |
1Lisa M. Martin is IFCA Communications
Director, and Jean Trobec is IFCA Senior Vice-President.
