Field Trips: Oliver Kelley Farm

Experience the story of farming and food at the Kelley Farm from 19th-century farm life on the historic farmstead to modern Minnesota agriculture and food in the Farm Lab.

Field Trips include one program of your choice in either the historic farmstead or the Farm Lab, plus student interaction with farm animals, farm and garden crops, and products that come from farms.

Field trip options

Historic Farmstead

Be immersed in the world of 1860s farming, when agriculture in Minnesota looked very different than it does today.

What is a Farm?

Grades PK-K
This multi-sensory program gives students a chance to explore a real working farm. Discover first hand what farmers do, where food comes from, and why animals live on a farm.

1860s Farm: Then and Now

Grades 1–3
Discover what life was like on an 1860s farm and compare it to life today. Through a variety of farm and domestic chores, students experience how each family member contributed to the farm’s success then and now.

Farm Animals in the Making of Minnesota

Grades 3–4
Animals played an integral role in early Minnesota agriculture. Students discover how animals provided labor, food, by-products, and income for farm families in the past, and continue to do so today.

Farming in the Changing Community

Grades 5–12
Students explore the dramatic changes that took place in mid-19th-century agriculture as they work in the historic 1860s house, fields, and farmyard. Discover how small towns and larger communities were tied to farms, and how changes in livestock breeds, crop varieties, farm technology, and advocacy affected community growth and success.

Farm Lab

Explore Minnesota’s changing agriculture through modern gardens, contemporary crops, animals, and hands-on cooking activities.

Northern Lights: Growing Minnesota

Grade 6
This curriculum-based program focuses on chapters 10–20 of the Northern Lights textbook, and uses the thread of agriculture in Minnesota to explore technology, the environment, and society as it has changed over time. Students will examine the kinds of decisions farmers over the decades have faced as they responded to events such as war, failing economies, weather factors, and government policies.

Agriculture is Everywhere

Grades 3–5
Discover the surprising ways that agriculture touches our lives every day. Students meet Minnesota farm animals and crops as they use maps to explore the variety and location of agricultural products grown across the state.

Farm to You

Grades 6-8
Find out how agriculture touches our lives beyond the dinner table. Students will explore agricultural products and the many steps and careers required to produce consumer goods from farm to food, to fashion, to fine arts, to fun.

Feeding the World

Grades 6-12
By 2050 it is projected that there will be over 9 billion people on earth. What role can Minnesota play to make sure there is enough food? Students examine topics such as changing farming methods, food waste reduction, concerns related to raising animals, and the careers that can solve our food shortage dilemma.