Fifth-grader students learned about agricultural commodities — including lipstick and footballs — during Field to Fork on May 2.

Afton Albert’s total concentration was on the tube of lipstick as her classmates chanted “Afton! Afton! Afton!”

Using metal tongs, she stacked one on its end, then another on top of it. The third tube, though, sent the tower crashing to the table.

This activity was one of many at Field to Fork, a program on May 2-3 for fifth-graders organized by the Baker County Farm Bureau and OSU Extension Service in Baker County.

Students came from South Baker Intermediate, Haines, Pine Eagle and North Powder schools to spend a day learning about all aspects of agriculture and eating a meal featuring beef, one of Baker County’s biggest commodities.

Five stations were spread around the fairgrounds area: More Than Dirt; Water Resources; Plants in a Glove; Harvesting a Crop and Ag Commodities.

The commodities station featured the lipstick race, as well as sifting through a tub of hay to find a plastic needle and bowling a ball of yarn to knock over tubes of lotion.

Before tackling these challenges, the students learned about agricultural products and the top 10 commodities in Oregon: cattle, greenhouse/nursery, hay, milk, grass seed, wheat, potatoes, pears, wine grapes and blueberries.

At other stations, which all ran 40 minutes, participants planted seeds in a plastic glove, learned about the importance of water, and created an edible sample of soil (crushed cookies for bedrock, vanilla and chocolate pudding for the subsoil and topsoil, gummy worms, and sprinkles for grass and trees).

At the harvest station, Eugene Hawes explained the process from planting to harvest — and how those big potatoes grown in Baker Valley end up as crispy french fries.

He told the kids about potato cellars where “there will be a wall of potatoes 30 feet high” and how it takes many hundreds of semi-truck loads to haul those spuds.

“Transportation is a big part of agriculture,” he said.

Students got their hands on some crops too, as they learned how to separate wheat kernels and dig potatoes from a tub of soil.

He explained how different crops are rotated through the same field, such as peppermint followed by wheat, alfalfa and then corn.

“Some crops take a lot of nutrients,” he said. “They find a rotation that works best for them and the soil.”

Hawes was joined by staff from Eastern Oregon University’s GO STEM program, who will most likely help at future Field to Fork events, said Katie Hauser, program coordinator for the OSU Extension in Baker County.

“It’s a good connection with EOU,” she said.

Field to Fork is supported by Baker County Cattlewomen, Oregon Trail Livestock Supply, Baker County Custom Meats, Pickard Ranch, NW Farm Credit, Richland Feed & Seed, Oregon Beef Council, Robbins Farm Equipment and Soroptimists International of Baker County.

Each group was also assisted by local high school volunteers.