More than 130,000 students will get a first-hand experience of harvest time as part of the UK’s biggest harvest festival, as the NFU Education team takes them behind the scenes of one of farming’s biggest annual events.

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With almost 1,800 primary schools taking part, the free virtual lessons will allow teachers to talk to primary school children about food production, seasonality and how farmers are using science and technology to take on the climate change challenge, all linking in with the school curriculum through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).

NFU Student & Young Farmer Ambassador Hannah Buisman will explain to Key Stage 1 children what happens when crops are harvested, and they’ll get to join in making the world’s biggest combine harvester. Carrots are on the menu for Key Stage 2, with a lesson that will take students through how farmers are using climate change fighting technology and science to grow, process and pack them.

NFU President Minette Batters said: “It’s fantastic to see such a large number of schools and children with a keen appetite to learn more about where their food comes from and connecting them with the countryside; our farmed working landscape.

“Being able to show in the classroom how innovative, diverse and exciting an industry agriculture is in such a practical way gives students an amazing insight and could inspire them to think about a career in food and farming in the future.”