PRESS RELEASE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
OVERSEAS TRIP … The Archbold High School FFA recently presented a program on their 10-day trip to Ireland during the summer to Archbold Rotarians. FFA teacher Ryan Sell along with Alana Tracz and Scarlett Brehm, two of the four students who went on the trip, told Rotarians about the cultural and agricultural tours that were part of the experience. Archbold and Evergreen were among the 10 Ohio FFA programs that participated. The program was arranged by Lou Levy.
PRESS RELEASE – Four Archbold FFA members along with their teacher Ryan Sell spent 10 days of their summer vacation traveling to Ireland where they toured cultural and agricultural sites during the roughly eight days they actually spent in the country.
Sell, who has been Archbold’s FFA teacher for 19 years, said members of the Evergreen High School FFA program and eight other Ohio schools were part of the tour with roughly half of the time spent visiting a variety of Irish farms and half of the time travelling to cultural attractions such as castles and cathedrals – many of which were centuries old.
Current FFA president Alana Tracz said they were impressed by the size and beauty of the structures as well as how old they were. Sell added that they visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, which is the largest and oldest (opened in 1213) Catholic cathedral in Ireland
And, when they were in Galway they visited the newest cathedral in Ireland. It was completed in 1965. But when they toured the farming areas of Ireland, they saw a 200-acre orchard with 60 varieties of apples and a strawberry farm where the berries are grown hydroponically (in water).
A pumpkin and brussel sprout farm visit were scheduled where the students had to work for their meal.
They noted that while they were in Ireland from June 22 to July 1, it was usually cloudy, rainy and cool (never over 70). And, when they were covering the area where the vegetables were being planted it was very windy as they tried to spread the tarp.
They also visited dairy and sheep farms as well as a farm along the Atlantic Ocean that harvested oysters.
Sell noted that the dairy barns were incredibly clean. But the farmer explained that his cattle were generally only in the barns about three months of the year since the ocean kept the weather more temperate and they were able to be kept outside most of the year.
Both Sell and the students said that farm equipment in Ireland was much smaller than in Fulton County. Not only are the roads too narrow to accommodate large equipment, the soil and fields are so much different.