{"id":8350,"date":"2025-12-26T06:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T12:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/26\/missouri-lawmakers-seek-to-expand-agriculture-education-in-statewide-program\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T06:00:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T12:00:33","slug":"missouri-lawmakers-seek-to-expand-agriculture-education-in-statewide-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/26\/missouri-lawmakers-seek-to-expand-agriculture-education-in-statewide-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri lawmakers seek to expand agriculture education in statewide program"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

State Rep. Adrian Plank, D-Columbia, speaks during a press conference March 6, 2025, in the House Press Gallery. Among his bills prefiled for the 2026 legislative session, Plank has proposed creating a statewide agriculture education program (Tim Bommel\/House Communications).<\/p>\n

Missouri public school students could see more agriculture-based science lessons starting in kindergarten through high school under bills prefiled<\/a> in both state legislative chambers that would establish a new statewide program. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lawmakers in the state\u2019s more populous cities filed the bills, hoping agriculture education can benefit students in both urban and rural areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am a proponent of continuing to have (agriculture education)\u2026 and not just in our rural schools but to have this everywhere so that our kids are exposed to agriculture as a science,\u201d state Sen. Barbara Washington, a Democrat from Kansas City, told The Independent.<\/span><\/p>\n

She filed the bill for the second year in a row, inspired by personal experiences eating homegrown food and visiting Kansas City schools who incorporate agriculture into education.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019s final report, and teachers had mixed feelings about the curriculum.<\/span><\/p>\n

In periodic surveys, educators said they didn\u2019t 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019s public schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which would be responsible for overseeing the program, is open to public-private partnerships.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our intention to work side by side with the many current commodities groups that are providing this access currently,\u201d the department\u2019s spokesman said in an emailed statement. \u201cIt is our hope with this legislation to provide continued access for students in learning about agriculture in the state of Missouri.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Martin started sponsoring the bill last year after Columbia Democratic state Rep. Adrian Plank asked him to team up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Plank was the first to file the bill in 2024, but it didn\u2019t 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMe and him together, we should be able to get it on to something this year, pretty easily,\u201d Plank told The Independent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gov. Mike Kehoe appears to be supportive of the legislation, Martin told The Independent, and there is growing interest from agriculture organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose farmers who come to my office are so anxious to be a part of exposing their world to children at a younger age,\u201d Washington. \u201cAnd if we expose the children to agriculture now, then they know that there are opportunities for them in the workforce.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The estimated cost, based on last year\u2019s fiscal note, is limited to teacher training at $116,000 annually.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>If the program gets bigger, which I believe it will, then we will go and advocate for funding for the program,\u201d Plank said. \u201cEspecially if it is going to be as successful as I think it will be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Rep. Adrian Plank, D-Columbia, speaks during a press conference March 6, 2025, in the House Press Gallery. Among his bills prefiled for the 2026 legislative session, Plank has proposed creating a statewide agriculture education program (Tim Bommel\/House Communications). Missouri public school students could see more agriculture-based science lessons starting in kindergarten through high school…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8351,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMissouri lawmakers seek to expand agriculture education in statewide program - WestplexNews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/westplexnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/26\/missouri-lawmakers-seek-to-expand-agriculture-education-in-statewide-program\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Missouri lawmakers seek to expand agriculture education in statewide program - WestplexNews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"State Rep. Adrian Plank, D-Columbia, speaks during a press conference March 6, 2025, in the House Press Gallery. Among his bills prefiled for the 2026 legislative session, Plank has proposed creating a statewide agriculture education program (Tim Bommel\/House Communications). 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