Texas Farm Bureau

I. Name of Web Site: Texas Farm Bureau
II. Web Site: www.txfb.org
III. Updated: October, 2007
IV: Organizational Credentials: Texas Farm Bureau was established in 1933. It is one of the largest member owned organizations that’s mission is to help the agriculture related individuals in their search for information and assistance.
V: Web Site Design: The home page of Texas Farm Bureau is very impressive. The sub-title at the top says, “The Voice of Texas Agriculture.” This title is carried through with all of the links that are available. The central interest on the page is for teachers. It shows food and fiber for the 21st century and has a link for teachers to include agriculture in the classroom. Other links listed on the left hand side would be extremely helpful. They are News Room, Daily Ag News, Legislative, Ag in the Classroom, Planet Ag, just a name a few. I went to Ag in the Classroom to try it out. There are five individual links on this page. Your options are TV AG stories, Planet Ag, Rural Texas, and Texas Farm Bureau Videos, and Ag in the Classroom. It starts out with a six true/false quiz that was very interesting. It checks for background knowledge of agriculture. From there you can go into several topics that are very current and important to agriculture. Texas Farm Bureau also offers the opportunity of the mobile learning lab to visit your classroom and community. It would be easy to get it to your classroom with the collaboration of other schools in your area, they ask for four stops on their way. Another link was Texas Farm Bureau TV which provides videos with a number of topics which would be useful in the classroom. The last page of the website has links to the US Department of Agriculture, Federal Grant Programs, and the National Future Farmers of America, where I’m going next. The overall design is very easy to maneuver.
VI: Response and Recommendation: Teaching Agriculture is a constantly changing subject. This website would be helpful in keeping up with the every changing information that is needed. The links to legislature and federal assistance would be good to use for current events and daily updates. I would recommend this website for use by all ag educators.