It’s no secret that fewer and fewer Hoosiers have a real connection to farming. It’s for this reason that Indiana Farm Bureau created the Book of the Year (BOTY) program, which promotes books for elementary school-age children that portray agriculture in a way that is both accurate and entertaining.
The program started in 2017 when the INFB Women’s Leadership Committee was looking for a way to provide county Farm Bureaus and volunteers in the Agriculture in the Classroom program with additional tools to promote agriculture literacy and further the mission of the AITC program.
The result was the Book of the Year, which has distributed more than 12,400 BOTY to Ag in the Classroom volunteers, educators and schools since the program began.
The 2025 BOTY is Right This Very Minute: A Table-to-Farm Book About Food and Farming, written by Lisl H. Detlefsen and illustrated by Renée Kurilla. In the book, families in their busy kitchens or sitting at the table wonder where the foods they’re about to eat come from. More than a dozen different types of farming operations are featured throughout, including farms that produce oranges, strawberries, maple syrup, wheat, cranberries, peanuts, dairy cows, lettuce and beef cattle.
“This is a great, simple book explaining to children where their food comes from and the importance of agriculture,” says Janis Highley, INFB 2nd vice president, who, with her husband, Larry, raises corn and soybeans in Huntington County. “It’s a perfect book to show children that food doesn’t just appear at the grocery store. There is a lot that goes into growing and processing our food before it reaches the table.”
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Each year, the INFB Women’s Leadership Committee evaluates books and sends three or four titles to a selection committee for consideration. The selection committee, composed of experienced, enthusiastic AITC volunteers and educators, uses specific criteria to evaluate each book.
The winning book is made available to AITC volunteers, educators and schools. In addition, a tool kit and an educator’s guide are produced to help volunteers and educators present the book most effectively and ensure it ties in with Indiana’s academic standards.
The 2024 BOTY was My Family’s Corn Farm by Katie Olthoff. Around 2,000 copies were distributed in the state. Among the previous Books of the Year were John Deere, That’s Who! by Tracy Nelson Maurer; Popcorn Country: The Story of America’s Favorite Snack by Cris Peterson; My Family’s Soybean Farm by Katie Olthoff; and I LOVE Strawberries! by Shannon Anderson.
To see a full list of INFB’s Books of the Year, visit infb.org/boty. If you’re interested in acquiring the 2025 BOTY for your local school, contact your county Farm Bureau. If you’d like a copy for yourself or to give as a gift, you can purchase directly from the publisher by visiting feedingmindspress.com/our-books.
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