ANDERSON, Calif. — For Kenny Elwood, it was the first day of harvest. But the owner of the Redding, Calif.-based Lassen Canyon Nursery wasn’t up in the high country to see the first strawberry plants come out of the field.

Instead, he and his fiancee, Megan Shepherd, were showing off their prize Boer goats to groups of fourth-graders at an agricultural education day at the fairgrounds here.

“It’s the biggest protein source in the world,” Elwood told the first group from Mistletoe Elementary School in Redding. “Eighty percent of the world gets their protein from goats.”

The students let out “ooh’s” and “aah’s” as Shepherd explained that you can tell a goat’s age by looking at its teeth, and as Elwood told them there are several companies in the United States that use their goats exclusively for brush-clearing to prevent the spread of wildfires.

“How old do they get?” one student asked.

“We had one get to be 18, but that’s a pretty old goat,” Shepherd said.

The couple’s presentation was included among more than a half-dozen stations that some 400 children from nine area schools rotated through during the Shasta County Farm Bureau’s 14th Farm-City Day on Sept. 24.

Youngsters heard lessons on the beef industry, area wildlife, rangelands, bees, forestry and bugs. It was the first time attending for Elwood and Shepherd, who said they wanted kids to learn that there’s a future in agriculture.

Elwood said he planned to donate plants to several area schools that are putting in gardens.

“I think it’s pretty important for kids to know about ag instead of just going to the grocery store,” he said.

The couple recently started raising meat goats as part of Shepherd’s cattle business, Radiant Reds in Bella Vista, Calif., and are now breeding goats and entering them in shows.

“It’s kind of a hobby that we see a lot of potential in as a new meat source,” Elwood said.

The annual field day is among numerous such events held around the country to introduce urban schoolchildren to agriculture. An education day held each year as a kickoff for the Tehama District Fair in Red Bluff, Calif., was canceled on Sept. 25 because of rain.

Clouds rolled in during the Anderson field day, but the rain hadn’t yet arrived. Many of the presenters told the students how farmers have been coping with the drought.

“It’s connecting the fact that if there’s no water, there’s no food,” said Tiffany Martinez, the Shasta County Farm Bureau’s manager. “We’re encouraging them (presenters) to talk about that and to talk about how agriculture is connected with their lives. That’s our main message.”

Jana Hult, a fourth-grade teacher at Mistletoe, said she was impressed by the field day.

“I think it’s an amazing opportunity for the kids to experience agriculture,” she said. “Most of them are in the city.”