In the News

Introducing: Jefferson Farm and Gardens
The Soy Daily
Aug. 14, 2007
Link to Article

Old Tom Would be Proud

Columbia, Missouri, August 14, 2007 – Opening soon to the public, something new, but in many ways, something as old as the civilized world, is coming your way.

Jefferson Farm and Gardens, a multi-purpose facility currently under development in this mid-Missouri city of 100,000 will be opening next year – and will showcase contemporary Midwest farming and gardening, emphasizing educational programs for new or current farmers, school children and the general public.

The 67-acre facility will also serve as a base for research and marketing programs carried out by the Jefferson Institute, a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 with two primary goals: to explore value-added opportunities for farmers and present modern agriculture in a relevant and understandable way to the public. Its programs include a variety of education, research and market development efforts aimed at improving the long-term viability of family farms.

The Institute was named for our third President to honor his efforts to diversify and strengthen American agriculture, and to further his work as an advocate of testing new crops and incorporating them into crop rotations.

Current projections suggest at least 30,000 will visit the facility annually, including 10,000 school children. The farm and its gardens will be open year-round.

Attractions will include a visitor education complex with exhibits, a reading room, classrooms and teaching greenhouse; a 7-acre lake; children’s garden; children’s barnyard, demonstrations fields of common and alternative crops; and demonstration gardens, including: a Jefferson Garden, genetic diversity garden, native plantings, fruit and vine crops, and other ornamental areas.

Unlike living history farms, Jefferson Farm and Gardens will focus on contemporary agriculture, and will likely have on its grounds the greatest diversity of economic plants grown on a single U.S. farm.

Located just south and east of the city, home of the University of Missouri, the farm is being funded by a variety of governmental and charitable foundation sources, including United States Department of Agriculture, The Monsanto Fund, MFA Oil Company and MFA (Missouri Farmers Association) Incorporated, Columbia Convention & Visitors Bureau and Mid-Missouri Fish Hatcheries.

For more information, please visit www.jeffersonfarm.org.