Things are getting back to normal down on the farm where the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) is once again able to host students for fun and educational visits.

On October 12 and 13, students from Warrior Ridge, Rebecca Boone and Daniel Boone elementary schools boarded buses and headed to the Warrenton farm of Dennis and Audrey Puetz and Karl Puetz Jr. for the first time since 2019.

“It’s so nice to have them all back here like it used to be,” said Dennis Puetz. “We are just carrying on Mom and Dad’s tradition.”

Puetz is speaking of the late Ralline and Karl Puetz Sr., who volunteered to host the farm tour more than 20 years ago. In her later years, Ralline Puetz welcomed the students into her living room or front porch, where she could quiz them on what they had learned at the farm.

Audrey said the students from Warrior Ridge reported they enjoyed fishing the most. Many of them have never fished before and were delighted the fish were biting.

“It was raining and the kids were fishing,” she said. “They didn’t even care. They were catching one after another.”

Fishing and water quality are just two of 10 stops on the tour. Others include soils and terraces, trees and wildlife, rocks and minerals, electricity, farm animals and farm safety.

Elizabeth Swoboda, a teacher at Daniel Boone for 31 years, said her class has been attending the tour since the year 2000 and it was clear by her exuberance that she is a big fan.

“Activities really fit with our curriculum, especially in science and social studies,” said Swoboda. “They also write an essay about what they learned here. It’s vital that students get a chance to experience the farm and connect with real life situations.”

“I love the tour and I really missed it,” said Karl Puetz. “We grew up on the farm and didn’t realize the lack of knowledge that some people have. Some of these kids don’t even know what grain is. You can see and read as many books as you want, but look, they are experiencing it all hands on.”

Puetz said he gets letters with lots of feedback from the students. It takes him a month to go through them and he reads every single one.

“It doesn’t matter how much work it is to pull this off,” he added. “It’s worth it.”

Polly Sachs, of the SWCD, noted that the students were given the choice of visiting the Missouri Capitol or the Puetz farm and they chose the farm.
Sachs said they have great partners that help the SWCD during all three farm tours. The Missouri Department of Conservation provides many volunteers, including forestry specialists and conservation agents. Sachs said the Warrenton FFA really stepped up to help during this year’s event, providing the animals and information about animal feed.

The Pork Producers Association was on hand to help prepare the students’ lunch. Cuivre River Electric Co-op provided personnel for one of the farm stops and helped contribute to the cost of the lunch. Uncle Ray’s donated potato chips.

During the tour this year, the Puetz family was presented a plaque for hosting the Warrenton fourth grade farm tour for 22 years.

In the spring of 2023, tours at two other farms will take place. One for primarily Wright City students will be held at the Reckamp farm. The other location will be new this year, replacing the retiring Glosemeyer farm. It will be held near the St. Ignatius Catholic School and will be open to Marthasville-area and homeschool students.

Sachs said all volunteers were delighted to see the students learning about the farm by seeing and experiencing one. For more information about the tours, contact Sachs at the Warren County SWCD in Warrenton by calling 636-456-3434.