At a time when many agriculture students are busy on the family farm, the agriculture clubs are active on campus.

The Dairy Science Club was busy with its annual Farm Fun Day Tuesday at the ISU Dairy Farm, said Aaron Jones, Dairy Science Club representative.

The club had about 100 fourth-graders from Meeker and Roosevelt elementary schools. These students spent the morning hand-milking cows, learning about the basic nutrition of the animals, and watching basic farm operations such as milking in a parlor, said Jones, sophomore in dairy science.

“Most of [the fourth graders] haven’t ever been on a farm before,” he said.

It’s a good way to let them experience a farm situation for themselves and they really enjoy it, he said.

The ISU Agriculture Education Club will host the Alpha Tau Alpha Conference this year, said Scott Johnson, Ag Ed Club president. The conference will be attended by schools from all over the nation, said Johnson, senior in agricultural education.

“The conference helps undergrads learn about teaching as well as issues affecting the profession,” said Cary Trexler, club adviser and assistant professor of agricultural education and studies.

The conference also serves as an awards ceremony, he said. Last year, the ISU Agriculture Education Club received awards for fund raising and fellowship, Trexler said.

The Block and Bridle Club kicked off its year with 75 4-H and FFA members for the Junior Livestock Evaluation, said Timothy Keegan, Block and Bridle president.

The daylong event lets participants learn about livestock evaluation of cattle, sheep and pigs, said Keegan, senior in animal science. The children spent the day attending clinics put on by the Block and Bridle Club and the Dairy Science Club about the procedures of evaluating livestock, he said.

The Block and Bridle Club also is starting its cheese and summer sausage fund-raiser shortly, Keegan said.

The club raises between $7,000 and $10,000 and produces 45,000 pounds of summer sausage, he said. The cheese is shipped in from Wisconsin, Keegan said.

On Saturday Block and Bridle will attend the Regional Meats 475C contest, a meat-judging contest in which students judge cuts of meat for quality and other aspects, he said.

The Block and Bridle and Dairy Science clubs will be at the Little North American event Oct. 27 in the Kildee Pavilion, Keegan said. This event is a showmanship competition in which the people showing the animals are judged rather than the animals. The event has divisions for dairy, sheep, pigs and horses and uses university livestock, he said.

Keegan said he hasn’t seen a drop in help due to students going home to help at family farms. Many of the students live too far to go home for the weekend, so they stay and help with events, he said.

Some live too far away to go home every weekend and others have responsibilities here, Jones said.

“A lot of people do go home to help,” he said, “but there are some that stay.”