By Tyler Dahlgren

It’s mid-July, the dog days of summer, and memories are being made on every acre of Gifford Farm.

A bright morning sun peaks through some passing clouds as the Little Farmers campers, an energetic pack of four to six-year-olds, transport baby chicks from an incubator to the nursery, where they’re met by the older Farm Camp kids.

In a barn across the farm, a group of campers from Boys Town are being introduced to Holly the Holstein, a model milking cow the farm received through the Meta Data Center Community Action Grant. At the same time, a group from Omaha’s Completely KIDS program waits for an interactive hayrack ride through a winding trail in the nearby forest.

In the middle of all the bustle is Gifford Farm Coordinator Kelly Taylor, who walks while she talks. On the farm, especially in the spring and summer, it’s go, go, go, and days like this are as good as it gets.

Taylor takes another step, the gravel crunching under her boot, and pauses to take the moment in.

“This is what we do,” said Taylor. “We love having the kids here. We love watching their faces and being a part of the memories that they’re making here on the farm.”

ESU 3’s Gifford Farm is one-of-a-kind, offering a unique experience to Nebraska students who, in the majority of instances, have never stepped foot on a working farm before. From grain bins, barns and animal pens to chicken coops, playgrounds and classroom space, campers receive an all-encompassing educational experience. Each year, the farm hosts up to 30,000 visitors.

“We want them to leave here with a better understanding of the importance of farming, and how all of this together, the crops and the animals, affects every single part of our lives,” said Taylor, who stepped into her current role in 2019 after seven previous years on the Gifford Farm staff. 

The Little Farmers and Farm Camps were extended to two weeks, because of so much interest, and are part of a packed summer program schedule that starts in June and runs through July. In June, Gifford Farm partnered with nearby Fontanelle Forest, Children’s Museum and the Farm Bureau to put on camps. In July they offer the classics, camps they’ve been putting on for two decades.

“Summer is extremely important for us,” said Taylor. “We really try to maximize June and July. Spring and summer are our two busiest seasons.”

They stay busy in the fall and winter too, visiting schools with their animals and portable planetarium. Ultimately, their goal is for kids to experience a little bit of everything they do, said Taylor.

“It’s never the same day twice,” Taylor said with a laugh. “Sometimes you have trees that fall down and block the road and you can’t get into work, like we had this morning. There’s always something, especially with the animals. It’s just a beautiful area that we like to share with everybody.”

Today, for example, is what outdoor educator Cindi Brothers refers to as ‘Moving Day.’ Brothers, a retired 30-year educator with Bellevue Public Schools, is in charge of the chick march from the incubator to the nursery. Teaching gave Brothers a rewarding and fulfilling career. Gifford Farms has done the same for her in retirement.

“Just seeing the reactions from the children, it’s so fun,” said Brothers, who watches as the Little Farmers campers climb through the famous Huckleberry Hut, a playground structure graciously designed by a volunteer and reconstructed after floods destroyed the farm in 2019. “Many of the children have never experienced a farm before. They’ve never touched a goat or a live chicken, so it’s so fun seeing them hold an animal for the first time. It’s just a neat experience for the kids.”

Gifford Farm strikes a perfect balance between education and fun. Students learn when they’re on the farm, probably far more than they even realize. In the grain station, for example, Taylor asks a group of students to raise their hands if they brushed their teeth that morning. One by one, hands raised above slightly confused expressions.

“I said, ‘Okay, you probably used corn or soy beans,’” Taylor told the group. “And they kind of look at you, and then you start naming some of the different products that come from farm animals, explaining that we get crayons from sheep and pigs, and that pigs are great for insulin and diabetic uses and different things. Then you can see the lightbulb kind of come on as they connect the dots. That’s always a cool moment.”

Near the Huckleberry Hut, a couple campers water plants while Omaha Bryan senior Serena Peraza, one of Gifford Farm’s interns, puts together a toy ice-cream counter for a couple of kindergarten-aged campers. Peraza, who hopes to study education at UNO after high school, wanted to spend this summer working with kids. Gifford Farm, she’s learned, was the perfect place.

“It’s been a great experience, and I’ve learned so much myself,” said Peraza. “I’ve learned that you need patience. There’s a lot of problem-solving you have to do on the farm, and there’s always something to do, which is a good thing for me. I like to be moving.”

The sun’s out now, and a tractor roars up in the distance.

It’s time for a hayrack ride, and the group from Completely KIDS has saved me a seat.

“You better hurry up,” says Taylor. “You don’t want to miss your ride.”

I climb aboard, say hello to former Gifford Farm coordinator and current interactive tour guide Nancy Williams, who’s wearing the same big smile she had on during our last visit to the farm back in 2018.

We’re instructed to keep our feet on the floor, our hands in the wagon, and then we’re off.

Off to make a memory.