In the News

Seed Money
Missouri Ruralist
Apr. 18, 2008
Link to Article

By Compiled by staff

The Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute recently announced a $120,000 grant from the City of Columbia Convention and Visitors' Bureau Attraction Development Fund. The award, approved by the Columbia City Council, will be used to help develop Jefferson Farm & Gardens, a new educational farm opening near Columbia in spring 2009.

Rob Myers, executive director of the Jefferson Institute, says the grant is coming at a strategic time in the farm's development. "We have now surpassed the halfway mark of our capital campaign," he says.

Once complete, Jefferson Farm & Gardens is expected to attract more than 30,000 visitors from across the region in the first year. "As word of Jefferson Farm & Gardens continues to spread, we are confident this new attraction will add to the many reasons why tourists want to visit Columbia," Myers says.

Attractions at Jefferson Farm & Gardens will include a visitor center with exhibits and classrooms, a teaching greenhouse, children's garden, MFA Children's Barn, orchard, 7-acre lake, wildflower meadow and demonstration fields.

FYI

Visit www.jeffersonfarm.org.