LO students learn about more than just raising animals
Published on Page 1 of the August 21, 2013 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
For about three quarters of a century, South Valley young people have learned the lessons of agriculture through the Morgan Hill Future Farmers of America (FAA) chapter based at Live Oak High School. The decades-long tradition continued this month when local FFA members showed off their livestock at the Santa Clara County Fair in San Jose.
David Bahar, a Live Oak High School sophomore, shows off his goat before entering the ring.
Among them was Marissa Smith, 16, the secretary of the FFA chapter and a Live Oak junior. Smith kept busy at the fair presenting her cattle, sheep, goats, swine and horse to judges. A resident of San Jose, the Live Oak junior said she enrolled in the school to be part of its well-established FFA chapter.
“I showed pretty much every day,” Smith said. “It was really fun this year at the fair. In FFA, you get to meet a lot of people — and then going to fair, you get to see everyone in the county and see what their projects were and how they handled it and how they raised their animals.”
Starting at 9, Smith became involved with the 4-H, but later switched to the FFA. She’s lost count of how many fairs she has attended because she goes to several each year. As a career, she wants to be either an agriculture teacher or a large animal veterinarian. Eventually, she wants to breed her own livestock, most likely pigs or horses.
“I go to the fair willing to help everybody,” she said. “That’s kind of my goal — not really to go out and win but to go out and help others succeed and have a fun fair.”
Smith’s friend Angelica Rodriquez, 17, a Live Oak senior, showed off her goat Jeffrey to judges at the fair. She auctioned Jeffrey for $450.
The president of the Morgan Hill FFA chapter, Rodriquez said the week at the county fair could be demanding — the FFA students started working at 7 a.m. and their days went on until 6 p.m. Despite the long hours, she got a lot out of her experience.
FFA students display their ribbons from the Santa Clara County Fair.
“What was fun for me was meeting all the new people I didn’t know before and seeing old friends,” she said. “I learned that it really takes a lot of hard work to gain anything of value. I worked with my animal and Marissa helped me a lot. It was probably my most successful year, as opposed to the other (two) years where I didn’t really work as hard.”
The Live Oak agriculture program is not just about animals. It also promotes leadership, personal growth and career success through the use of agriculture, said Erin Larrus, the FFA chapter’s advisor.
“Our mission at Live Oak is to build a better leader who will be able to stand in the world no matter what their job is, but will still have the agriculture background to make informed decisions about the world they live in,” she said.
Many FFA students raise animals for market and also for breeding purposes, Larrus said. Market animals are sold at the fair’s auction and the students receive a check for the sale of their livestock.
“This is the business aspect of the project,” she said. “It helps if the student has kept excellent records, in order for them to understand profit and loss.”
The students are the owners and caregivers of the animals, she said. The advisor is only there to help them out and counsel them in their projects.
FFA students lead their animals during a competition at the 2013 Santa Clara County Fair.
“The fair is a way for the students to show off their hard work and the skills and time that are put into the projects,” Larrus said. “In the show ring, you can tell the amount of time that a student spent caring for and working with their animals.”
If not showing animals, many FFA students enter vegetables, artwork, and
FFA students show off their ribbons from the Santa Clara County Fair.
woodwork into the fair.
Even though California is still one of the largest agriculture states, the Bay Area has lost much of the original farming roots as the region becomes more industry oriented, Larrus said. But young people involved in the Morgan Hill FFA chapter learn not only skills in agriculture and ranching but also gain life lessons that will help them make better and informed decisions as adults, she said.
“Learning about agriculture is more than just animals, it’s about our future,” she said.
