Members of the Morgan Hill chapter of the Future Farmers of
America are out in full force for the Santa Clara County Fair to
show off their animals and teach city slickers a little something
about agriculture.
Members of the Morgan Hill chapter of the Future Farmers of America are out in full force for the Santa Clara County Fair to show off their animals and teach city slickers a little something about agriculture.
And as students from Live Oak and Sobrato high schools present their prized animals to judges and fair goers, they have an opportunity to keep the South County agricultural tradition alive.
“If you look at Morgan Hill a good 20 years ago, it was all prune and walnut orchards,” said Anthony Friebel, president of the Live Oak FFA. “That was before the housing and shopping malls. FFA, 4-H and other agricultural organizations are trying to keep it going.”
Overall, nearly 60 students from the two schools competed at the fair – 40 from Live Oak and 20 from Sobrato.
At the fair, the students saw months of hard work pay off. Their animals – pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits and dairy and beef cattle – were displayed before judges who looked at their body types, fat content and their appearance.
Though the agricultural landscape surrounding Morgan Hill has diminished, FFA students are still turning heads throughout the state. Live Oak took first and second in swine showmanship and reserve supreme champion in beef. Sobrato, in its first county fair, took first place in both swine and beef novice showmanship as well as awards in rabbits. Friday the schools showed goats.
Today is the large and small animal round robins where winners of all levels of showmanship will compete for the championship. Participants must show all species at the fair. Large animals begin at 9am and small animals start at 12pm.
Sunday is the live auction, which begins at 11am, where the students must part with their prized animals to the highest bidder.
Kendra Lewis, Live Oak’s advisor for the program, said students can see all the work
they’ve put into their animals finally pay off.
“It has been a long process and the kids enjoy coming down here showing and competing,” Lewis said. “It is good publicity for our organization as well. Not only that, but it teaches responsibility.”
Lynda Pospishek, who will be a junior at Sobrato, said going to the fair made all the hard work well worth it.
“It feels like it was a really long and hard process, but when you get to the fair, it is so much fun,” Pospishek said. “It just overwhelmed me. It has been really exciting.”
Although the county fair highlights the most obvious of the students’ efforts – the livestock they raise – students must also provide educational displays about agriculture for the public.
Urban sprawl has taken its toll on farm lands, Lewis said, and to combat the trend, the program actively teaches people about California’s agricultural heritage.
“We do a lot of recruitment with our kids,” Lewis said. “We mainly take our (older) kids and go to middle schools. Our big focus has been agricultural literacy. We are also going out and teaching the public about agriculture and how important it is. With urban sprawl, we are losing farm land.”
But despite the growth and loss of farm land, Lewis said the FFA program is thriving. Last school year, there were 270 members and Lewis said she expects more than 300 this school year.
Pospishek encourages everyone to get involved with FFA even if they only have a slight interest. She said agriculture affects all aspects of life and the skills learned in FFA can be used in any field.
“Most people look at name, Future Farmers of America, and think the only thing is farming,” Pospishek said. “There are so many different opportunities. You can be a doctor, a lawyer or anything else. Even if not join but support FFA, I would say it is a good thing to support. We farm and everyone else eats.”
Lewis said the program gives students who live in the city an opportunity to have a garden or raise animals which has kept FFA strong.
Friebel said he didn’t anticipate any problems in the near future recruiting new members, but worried about the effects of South County cities encroaching on farm land.
“I’m pretty confident we can keep the program going,” Friebel said. “I’m scared what could happen in the next 10 years. As urban sprawl comes, things change and less and less people are interested in the agricultural aspects of life around us. They don’t want the stereotype (of being a cowboy). I want to say our generation is the last agricultural-based generation.”
The county fair continues today though Sunday at the Santa Clara County Fair Grounds off Tully Road in San Jose from 11am-7pm. Admission is free.
Cheeto Barrera is an intern at the Morgan Hill Times. He can be reached at cb******@mo*************.com.
