If you got dressed and ate breakfast this morning, you have some farm's finest in you and probably on you. But how much do you know about agriculture?
Visitors to the Georgia National Fair in Perry, Ga., can find out how much they know in the daily Ag U Quiz Bowl.
"It's a fun way to learn about a very serious subject," said Willie Chance, a Houston County Extension Service agent who helped run the first Ag U Quiz Bowl in last year's fair.
The quiz show is sponsored by the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Georgia National Fair. The fair is Oct. 9-18.
Fair visitors will have a dozen chances to get in on the quiz bowl fun, with three daily showings Oct. 12-15. The shows will be at 2, 4 and 6 p.m. each day inside the fairground's Heritage Hall.
At each show, a CAES professor will provide some fascinating facts about agriculture in an entertaining lecture.
Visitors will learn the basics, like the fact that agriculture accounts for one in every six jobs in Georgia and generates $39 billion, or 16 percent of the state's economic output.
But they'll also get a quick review of Georgia farm history and some fun facts like:
* The state's farmers grow enough peanuts for every Georgian to get 187 pounds of peanut butter every year. "But we spread it around," Chance said.
* More people die from insect bites than snake bites. Mosquitoes and the diseases they carry will probably kill 1 million people this year.
After the lecture, Chance said, four people in the audience get to be contestants in the quiz bowl. They'll compete for Ag U degrees by answering questions covered in the lecture. The winner will get the "doctor of ag facts" degree. Runners-up will get "farm foreman" degrees, while the losing contestant will be declared a "city slicker."
Actually, all four will get some nice prizes -- all Georgia farm products such as cotton T-shirts, peanuts and coupons for free eggs.
"We have a good time," Chance said. "We try to make it as fun and entertaining as we can. While we're having fun, though, we try to let everyone leave with a little more knowledge about the importance of agriculture in Georgia."
