www.montereycountynow.com AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 17 everyone to know where their food comes from. It’s early July during this midweek afternoon. There’s some activity going on inside a barn on the outskirts of Salinas—Gina Lopez is blow-drying her goat, while FFA Adviser Rachel Dalton checks in with the handful of students, who are busy scraping out pens or feeding their pigs, who snort happily at the attention. The students may be preparing for three more fairs by the end of the year—Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito—but the busiest time of the year has passed after the conclusion of the Salinas Valley Fair, where 30 Salinas FFA students and their 30 animals competed. Now, the group is down to about half that size, before it doubles again in January to start the process all over again. “It takes a really dedicated kid to raise an animal over the summer,” Dalton says. “You have to give up your vacation.” Dalton adds the students must spend a minimum of 14 hours a week, or about two hours a day, at the barn completing the various tasks—feeding, cleaning, rinse and repeat. But most spend much more time than that, as just spending time with the animals is the key to success. “In order to show them properly, they have to trust you and you have to form that bond,” she says. “It starts really early. “These animals are the best cared for. These kids put everything into it.” Ask any of the students if they feel it is too much work to care for the animals over the summer, especially when many of their peers are relaxing during this time, and they’ll say there’s no other place they’d rather be. Senior Will Freshwater says he works on a ranch, and being a part of the FFA program throughout his high school career has taught him the responsibility that comes with caring for animals, as well as life skills. “I love it,” he says. “It’s getting me prepared for life after school.” That is precisely Dalton’s goal for the program—that students learn important skills, such as budgeting and time management, which will carry them through life. Other activities outside the barn, such as public speaking and learning the ins and outs of job interviews, are also pillars of FFA classes. Students have to work out their schedules, showing up at the barn at 6am for feeding and cleaning before heading out to their summer jobs, returning to the barn in the afternoon and then again in the evening. “It’s really a labor of love,” Dalton says. “You have to love doing it.” The students must keep records of everything, from the hours they spent doing certain tasks, to tracking their finances for food, equipment and whatever other unexpected expenses they will come across—like any other living being, the animals can get sick and injured. It is a business, after all, and a big one at that: In 2023, livestock and poultry was valued at $115.5 million in Monterey County, ranking it in the top 10 in the county, according to the Crop and Livestock Report prepared annually by the Agricultural Commissioner. In early summer, the 30 Salinas FFA students who showed animals in the Salinas Valley Fair got their checks from the auction, totaling a staggering $147,000, according to Dalton, which was the most in her tenure as adviser. One student earned $31,000 for her animal. Many of the students save those funds for college, while others use Madison Stagner walks Bandit as she prepares for the showmanship competition at the fair. Judges keep a close eye on how well the pig is controlled, including how they keep their head up while walking. “These kids are the future, and if they know where that food comes from, they can teach others.”
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