Submitted by Real_Carl_Ramirez t3_ymnt7m in nottheonion
Comments
diagnosedwolf t1_iv4zzie wrote
It is if you’re too cheap to install irrigation.
Reeves32hp t1_iv5crkh wrote
Farmer here, irrigation is actually expensive to not only install but to run, just imagine the water bill. We just slap our wheat seed into the ground with some pot ash and rely on Mother Nature to provide rain. At most, the kids may be pulling weeds but if you plant your wheat seeds close they can usually over take the weeds.
azuresegugio t1_iv5m4ap wrote
I'm not an expert or anything but free irrigation for farmers seems like the kinda thing that we should be prioritizing. Edit: Really like getting downvoted for literally saying I don't understand something but it sounds important
Reeves32hp t1_iv5uv8v wrote
Eh, it's not really necessary, we've compared our rain water crops with irrigation and when it came down to it, the net income we were both making was about the same at the end of the day.
azuresegugio t1_iv60ma4 wrote
Oh ok, like I said I'm not an expert just seemed like the kinda thing that'd help
Kronos-_- t1_iv6fujb wrote
Irrigation is super expensive and it doesn't help for most cultures, cotton for example is a high value crop that would get no extra production from irrigation. Irrigation is mostly used for wet crops, like rice or beans or on a smaller scale for quick or delicate crops like strawberries and lettuce
MrMycroft t1_iv59psk wrote
Posters here didn't grow up rural, and it shows. Many HS local to me have farming/ranching, and even basic forestry classes. Those professions are the lifeblood of the local communities.
Those students weren't just working a field, they were learning about calculating land expectation value, current industry practices and potential future ones, marketing, growth and yield equations, etc. The smartest kids probably use it as a springboard into other Ag fields, ranging from law to research.
jrd5432 t1_iv5ja93 wrote
Correction: these professions are the lifeblood of our entire society.
IkeDaddyDeluxe t1_iv65e2v wrote
I went to a rural school and we had a bumper ag program and a crop field for both education and funds. Sadly, ag and sports is all they care about. They stripped the tech programs until they didn't exist and haven't increased teacher salaries in many years. Their math and (non ag related) science classes were always understaffed and funded. Now, they are being hit with a wave of teachers quitting because they only cared about sports and ag programs. It's a damn shame because I love agriculture but the old guard that rules the school board are stuck in the past.
[deleted] t1_iv6ir3h wrote
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MrMycroft t1_iv6ndeb wrote
What are you even getting at?
DracoDruid t1_iv4sawb wrote
School children need to work fields to raise money for their school.
Am I reading this right?
UsernameCheckOuts t1_iv4sofi wrote
It's that "dystopian challenges repackaged as feel good media puff pieces" thing.
DracoDruid t1_iv4we5y wrote
I think I'm gonna create a sub for these ^ ^
What sounds better: r/dystopianFeelGood or r/FeelGoodDystopia ?
SellDonutsAtMyDoor t1_iv54fo9 wrote
r/orphancrushingmachine
studentloandeath t1_iv5rff3 wrote
r/aboringdystopia exists
[deleted] t1_iv8dr4j wrote
[deleted]
UsernameCheckOuts t1_iv95dd4 wrote
All good. My old mentor used to say "don't worry when they steal your ideas, worry when they don't want to."
JoeRoganSlogan t1_iv6uthn wrote
While learning incredibly valuable life lessons and experiences.
Real_Carl_Ramirez OP t1_iv4vclb wrote
Yes, and that's what makes it oniony
DracoDruid t1_iv4w6qs wrote
Oh I'm not questioning your post here.
Sounds like another one of those "dystopia disguised as feel-good" stories.
SilasX t1_iv5i447 wrote
Classic America for you.
DracoDruid t1_iv5keta wrote
This is Australia though
SilasX t1_iv5kw7u wrote
…Neo-Australia for you.
TheTrueVanWilder t1_iv614ft wrote
ITT: a lot of people who didn't read the article.
The land was empty and donated for this purpose, the school previously had to stay inside due to dust storms, they are using the money to send the students on trips. From the description it sounds like they spend most of the time just looking at the wheat when outside.
Also there's only 7 students at the entire school. This is RURAL rural. From kindergarten to year six - for them this is probably closer to glorified recess. Kids this age, anything not sitting at a desk is fun as hell.
Had a nature garden at my elementary school growing up, and I would have loved to spend a half hour in there every day messing around with the pond, composting, picking weeds and planting plants, etc. But nooooo, we would get to go out there maybe five times a year. My mother works at the school now, and I went to see her recently and they ripped out the entire nature center and replaced it with some grass and concrete.
Yrilusa t1_iv4wc2c wrote
For what it’s worth, THIS is a model for how schools should build curriculum. Any school with resources to produce food or fibre should follow suit.
Different-Mud-5926 t1_iv4wpnc wrote
The children should work instead of learning?
srrymydog8yrtwinkie t1_iv4yyle wrote
Children should have practical skills incorporated into their curriculum. Whether it be farming, DIY, cooking or balancing the checkbook. The schools are letting everyone down by not teaching usable, practical skills especially letting kids down by not showing them why certain book work is necessary irl.
Kusibu t1_iv6fuc8 wrote
The phrase "work instead of learning" would be laughable if it weren't so depressing. Hands-on experience is incredibly valuable.
Kamwind t1_iv4xd7r wrote
You grow up working on a farm and you quickly learn you better keep your grades up so you can have a different life then that.
IAFarmLife t1_iv51kr8 wrote
It takes some pretty good grades to be successful at farming today.
MrMycroft t1_iv5a89h wrote
It does. Virginia Tech, where I got my Forestry degree, offers a whole range of Ag degrees. Then there are also people who go into Ag related law, research, economics, buisness. Farmers can be the nicest people in the world, but the buisness is cutthroat, and the dumb do not survive.
Ok-Dust- t1_iv577ib wrote
Are you implying they learned nothing?
sennbat t1_iv7eh0h wrote
Learning is work, and working is often the best way to learn. The only real question is whether the curriculum is designed to encourage learning effectively.
God knows there's plenty of work-that-doesn't-encourage-learning-effectively in your average school where you don't get to spend time with plans.
Dye_Harder t1_iv6iwdj wrote
No it isn't, there are not enough wheat growing jobs. Family owned farms almost never work either, because they get bought out and out competed by conglomerates.
stealth_elephant t1_iv4t5z0 wrote
> Each day the students swap their uniforms for work shirts and boots and spend part of their school day outside tending to the 85-hectare crop.
That is not how you grow wheat.