McLean County Farm Bureau is pleased to announce a $1 million gift to grow knowledge of agriculture with the new Farm to Healthy Me Exhibit at the Children’s Discovery Museum planned to open in 2026.

The 5,786 square foot exhibit “From the Farm to a Healthy Me” will be housed on the second floor of the Museum in Uptown Normal, and it will be more than double the size of the current agriculture exhibit which opened in 2006.

“Our gift to help update and renovate the agriculture exhibit represents one piece of our ongoing commitment to supporting agricultural education in our community,” said McLean County Farm Bureau President, Brian Dirks.

The sizable investment is the next step in a longstanding partnership with the Children’s Discovery Museum.

“McLean County Farm Bureau has been involved in the development of agriculture education at the Museum from the very beginning and contributed to help build the current AgMazing exhibit,” Dirks says. We are excited to see the new exhibit incorporate technology and new learning experiences to grow understanding about food and farming for families, school groups, community organizations and visitors of all ages.”

The new “From Farm to Healthy Me” exhibit will allow visitors to trace the journey of food and agricultural products starting on the farm. Current fan favorites from the AgMazing exhibit like the combine, tractor and milking cows will be included along with new elements like an Ag Lab, drone simulations, pig barn, bakery and food truck. Updated versions of the grocery store and pizza kitchen spaces will also be incorporated in the new exhibit.

“This is the largest single gift the Museum has ever received, and it makes perfect sense that it would come from the agriculture community that drives so many parts of the Central Illinois economy,” says Beth Whisman, Executive Director of the Children’s Discovery Museum. “We have been excited to work with the McLean County Farm Bureau and many ag partners over the last year to design a new ag exhibit that reflects what’s happening today and what is coming in the future.”

The museum has welcomed more than 2 million visitors since the AgMazing exhibit opened in 2006.

“Farming has changed a lot in the almost 20 years since ‘AgMazing’ opened, and a new generation of playful learners need an accurate and fun exhibit to experience the daily ways agriculture affects their lives,” Whisman said. “This playful, hands-on exhibit will also inspire children to imagine future ag careers and the fun, high-tech ways the field can change and adapt.”

To learn more and see a sneak peak of the new exhibit, click here.