Floyd County Extension and 4-H Office kicked off a new school year with a canoe trip down the Etowah River and a visit to a local farm.

4-H'ers learned about the rivers in Floyd County and helped clean up the river banks as a environmental community project.

Floyd County 4-H’ers also recently visited the Reynolds Farm owned by the Cagle family. The Cagle’s farm sets on approximately 550 acres of property by the Etowah River. The Cagles actually farm 900 acres of soybean on their property as well as property that they lease. The entire farm is worked by Jarrell and Brenda Cagle, and their son, Ronald.

4-H’ers got to see first hand what it takes to have a successful farm, which includes good soil, good weather and a lot of hard work.

“You have to have a strong desire and truly enjoy what you are doing”, said Brenda Cagle.

With approximately 50 in attendance, the group enjoyed a farm tour on the back of pickup trucks, learned about soybeans and how they are used. The evening ended with a backyard cookout.

4-H is an organization sponsored through the University of Georgia. GA 4-H provides educational youth development programs for over 156,000 young people ages 9 to 19 across the state. 4-H helps young people develop life skills in leadership, citizenship, communication and decision making skills. For more information on the Floyd County 4-H program, call the Floyd County Extension Office at 706/295-6210.