FFA, 4-H members heading to the Shasta District Fair

FFA PIG:
Becca Fredrickson of Anderson Union High School’s FFA program prepares her pig for the Junior Livestock Auction to be held starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, June 20, during the Shasta District Fair in Anderson.

The Shasta District Fair is the culmination of an investment in time, work and money for local FFA (Future Farmers of America) students.

Dozens of FFA students from Anderson Union and West Valley High School will be selling the farm animals they've raised at the Junior Livestock Auction. The fair starts today, and runs through Father's Day on Sunday. The Junior Livestock Auction will be on Saturday, June 20, at 8 a.m. in the main livestock show ring.

"It's been a lot of work, but it's been fun the whole way, and it's definitely taught me a lot about agriculture," said Taylor Ahern, Anderson High's FFA reporter.

Ahern has been a sheep herdsman. She got her lambs and March, and she and her fellow sheep herdsman are responsible for all aspects of their care, including the preparation it takes to show them at the fair.

"It takes a lot to get them ready," Ahern said. "We work with them. We feed them, walk them, halter break them ..." she said.

The FFA student said she teaches her lamb a proper stance, with their legs a certain a width apart. She has to make sure they weigh within certain perimeters, and she will have to make sure that her lambs are clean and ready to be shown at the livestock fair. How well she and other FFA students do this can determine how much they will be able to sell their animals for, and whether or not they will be awarded for their efforts.

"Your overall goal is to get grand champion - which is best in your class, basically. That would be my goal," Ahern said. "The higher you place, the more your animal is worth," she said.

Becca Fredrickson graduated from AUHS this year. She has been raising pigs in FFA for the past couple of years.

Fredrickson says she doesn't necessarily go for the big prize, she just likes to be part of the process.

"Personally I would rather just get the experience raising the animal, taking care of the animal and going to the fair and hanging out with my friends," Fredrickson said.

The FFA students say that raising an animal for the livestock auction is a different kind of learning experience, but it's an experience that teaches them a lot.

"It's more interactive, and it keeps you going more than just sitting down and reading a book everyday," Fredrickson said. "Time management is a big issue. You have to make sure you have time for something other than yourself."

Anderson Union High School FFA teacher George Wold said the raising an animal for the livestock fair is a life lesson for his students.

"They are responsible for feeding and caring for a living creature," Wold said.

The FFA instructor said raising an animal for the livestock auction also teaches students about where they food comes from.

"It's hard sometimes because we make them like our pets. But they know going into it that the animals will go into the food chain," Wold said. "They know that coming in, and it's a lot of responsibility and a lot of growing up that a kid does."