Project RED 36 successful years

The 36th annual Project RED (Rural Education Days) was held Tuesday, April 22 through April 24 at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds. Third graders from all over the county, along with teachers, parents and guests.

Classes from Pleasant Ridge and Harvest Elementary attended, and the Saline FFA lead groups and presented activities on Thursday.

Here's a snapshot description of how students and guests spent their visit.

Students follow their group leaders into a large barn where the floor is chalked in the shape of the state of Michigan. Several 4-H members take visitors on a virtual “Walk Thru Michigan Agricultural” to discover where many of our more than 300 commodities are grown or produced.

Then it's over to the “dairy barn”, where visitors met a, and an expectant mama cow and young calf (on loan from Horning Farms). They learned what cows eat, and that their micro-chip ear tags provide the farmer instant information about how much milk that cow’s producing, or if she’s having a health problem.

In a field behind one of the barns, attendees got to see a large, battery operated drone demonstration including seeing it spray water. The drone belongs to and is used by the Milan FFA. Drones can provide farmers with videography, photography, and also apply fertilizer to fields.

In the animal barn, students enjoyed seeing a calf, pigs, rabbits, goats, donkeys, lamas, and a steer.

Back outside, students heard about the many products made from corn, and saw some of the magnificent equipment farmers use to plant, and harvest corn crops.

In the block building, there were lots of interactive displays and activities to explore: milking a (fiberglass) cow, weighing eggs, grinding wheat berries into flour, watching animal fleece being combed and spun into yarn, matching seeds with fruits and vegetables, answering questions on the Agriculture Trivia Wheel, and seeing a display of “made in Michigan” products including Chelsea Jiffy Mix.

In a fun, interactive display, visitors learned about water resources and how all the things that go into drains can pollute the groundwater that eventually empties into local rivers, like trash, tire residue, pesticides, lawn fertilizer and even pet animal waste. They also learned about how soil and rain gardens capture toxins and help filter and clean our groundwater.

And finally, visitors got a “Taste of Michigan” commodities including samples of beef hot dogs, apples, ice cream in cones, potato chips, dried cherries, dried blueberries, sunflower seeds, honey butter on crackers, and popcorn.

At the various animal and commodity stations, students collected “trading cards.”

In addition, teachers took home “goodie bags” for each student filled with agriculture information, activity sheets, puzzles, pencils, soy crayons, and pine tree seedlings donated by the Washtenaw Conservation District.

It was a fun-filled, educational field trip where lots of great memories were made.

Thank you to the School Districts and all the third grade teachers for their support and participation. Shoutout to all the bus drivers, too!

In 2026 Project RED had nearly 2,000 students, teachers and parents registered for the program, representing every school district in the county, along with 30 organizations and businesses and over 300 volunteers over three days of programming.

In 36 years, Project RED has reached nearly 83,000 students, teachers and chaperones in face-to-face programming. It's truly a community effort to be proud of!