ABOVE: The reusable bags and some other items Martin County Farm Bureau members will be handing out at local grocery stores as part of National Agriculture Month.

FAIRMONT– The Martin County Farm Bureau is working to engage more with the public, especially this month as March is National Agriculture Month.

“Because March is such a big agricultural awareness event, we try to make connections to where our food comes from,” said local farmer and Farm Bureau member, Haley Ammann-Ekstrom.

Last year, for the first time, the board decided to hand out reusable grocery bags and some other items at local grocery stores.

“We had such a good response and the stores wanted to partner with us again,” Ammann said.

The free, reusable bags include items, such as a meat thermometer, donated by Martin County Corn and Soybean, the Minnesota Beef Council, Minnesota Farm Bureau and Minnesota Pork Producers.

“We found companies to donate the items. They’re things that you could use at home everyday and incorporate into your kitchen,” Ammann said.

From 10 a.m. to noon on this Saturday, March 22, some members will be handing out the filled bags at HyVee in Fairmont. Then from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, March 26, some members will hand out the bags at the Town Center in Trimont. Finally, from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, March 29 they will hand out the bags at Fareway in Fairmont.

All in all there are 500 bags to hand out and Ammann said they’re hoping to give them all away.

“We just want to connect with our community,” Ammann said.

She acknowledged that despite Martin County being such a big agricultural community, there seems to be a disconnect.

“I think we forget that the trucking companies and grocery stores are such a big part of the food industry, but that the food doesn’t just appear on the shelves. It’s coming from farmers and ranchers that we work with everyday and that your kids go to school with. We want to give recognition to those men and women who work hard to put food on your plates,” Ammann said.

In fact, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, there were 911 farms in Martin County alone and Ammann suspects that number is bigger now as generational changes have taken place.

Another thing the Martin County Farm Bureau is trying to do is connect with youth and teach those at a young age that their food and other items they use daily come from a farmer.

“I always tell them that their pizza and spaghetti, cotton in their clothes and paper in their books, it all has an indirect connection to agriculture,” Ammann said.

She said they try to show kids how many different careers there are in agriculture, too.

“We’ve donated book bundles to all schools in the county. We partner with Minnesota Ag in the Classroom to do fun events at the schools,” Ammann said.

Last year she brought a bottle calf to Fairmont Elementary School and would like to do it again this year.

“The kids just love it. They ask questions and if you’ve never seen a baby cow or been to a farm, it’s fun to see their mind going,” Ammann said.

The group was also responsible for the successful Breakfast on the Farm event that took place in 2023. The group would like to plan one again, but is unsure if it would take place yet this year.

The overall goal, Ammann said, is to connect more with the community and open their eyes to all of the agriculture connections.

“We’re the number one pork producing county in Minnesota and one of the top in the nation and a lot of people don’t even know that,” Ammann said. “There’s so many small ways people can be indirectly tied to agriculture.”

The other Martin County Farm Bureau board members include Layne Ebeling, Rochelle Krusemark, Emily Wegner, Brice Munsterman and Curt Kuehl.