COEUR d'ALENE - At first, goats can seem a little strange.

They have multiple stomachs, rectangular pupils and voracious appetites.

But they also serve as good companions and food resources for humans. And they're pretty cute.

"I touched one of its four stomachs and I got to milk it," Seltice Elementary fifth grader Prescilla Gill said Wednesday. "It was a little weird, but it was really fun."

Classmate Maddy Gillham said it was actually really cool to be up close and personal with the animals.

"It was something to experience, getting to milk a goat," she said with a grin.

More than 1,750 area fifth graders and teachers from the Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls and Lakeland Joint school districts and the Coeur d'Alene Tribal School have been learning all about how soil, water, agriculture, insects and animals contribute to human nutrition and wellbeing during the three-day 2023 Farm to Table event at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. Nearly 100 volunteers are lending helping hands.

"That's the record now," said Michaela Woempner, agricultural programming manager for the fairgrounds. "Each year we keep getting more, and I don't see us stopping.

Woempner said this Farm to Table, which continues today, has been a great success, with plenty of learning moments for the students.

"Some of them come in with some information," she said. "It's fun to see what they know already, or what the teacher might even be teaching in their class, compared to what more we can give them here."

New this year is a station with Harrison Harvest Family Farm. Owners Vince and Chelle Caruso teach the kids all about growing leafy greens year-round in a state-of-the-art hydroponics facility in Harrison.

"That's a huge thing all over the U.S. right now," Woempner said. "That's a hot topic."

Regenerative grazing with the owners of Lazy JM Ranch, John and Betty Mobbs of Hauser, is also a new Farm to Table experience for the students.

Brayden Hixson said he enjoyed visiting Farm to Table and learning about hydroponics.

"You can grow plants without soil," he said.

Kelyn Carpenter from Greensferry Elementary said she was learning "a lot of stuff."

"The water cycle, cows," she said. "And goat milk can go to a lot of things."