Farming is an important way of life in Beaufort County, and thanks to the Beaufort County Farm Young Farmers and Ranchers (BCYFR), high school students are getting hands-on exposure to the field of agriculture.

Amanda Watkins, an Ag education teacher at Northside High School, said a program called the Harvest Project was created a few years ago to encourage students’ interest in agriculture and to provide scholarships for students who want to pursue a career in agriculture.

A friend from the community donated a plot of land and each year BCYFR, which is made up of 18- to 35-year-olds and is a subgroup of the Farm Bureau Federation, helps to choose a crop to plant there. Any money that is raised from harvesting and selling the crop is given as scholarship money, Watkins said.

She said Ag students are able to go watch the crop being harvested and get an up-close view of how agriculture works.

But unfortunately, Hurricane Joaquin had other plans for this year’s corn harvest.

“We had to cancel the actual field portion of the event,” Watkins said. “We had planned on going out to watch corn being harvested. Just due to the rainy conditions, corn I mean, it has to be dry when you pick it.”

Instead of meeting at the land plot, BCYFR members came to Northside High, Southside High and the Northeast Regional School of Biotechnology and Agriscience at the end of September to explain how the corn is grown and harvested. Watkins said she estimates about 100 students participated in this year’s version of the Harvest Project.

“Obviously Ag ed is very hands-on,” she said. “I hope that they also can, you know, better appreciate where their products they use every day come from.”

Watkins said about one-half of her students have grown up on farms, but the other half has no experience like that.

“I also hope that they can get a little bit deeper respect for farmers,” she said. “I think — obviously I’m pretty biased — I like to eat and I like to have clothes, and I think the general population does as well.”

She said she doesn’t know whether the corn will be dry enough to harvest, as it’s been a tough weather year for farmers. But then again, that comes with the job.

“I really want my students to know we live in a community that is fully dependent on agriculture,” Watkins said. “I want them… to respect that.”