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Students Take Stock

Tribune photo by FRED BELLET

Zephyrhills High School junior Mandi Isgett, 17, sprays and brushes Jack, a black Angus that weighs 940 pounds. Mandi, who is the Future Farmers of America chapter president, will show and sell the steer at the Pasco County Fair’s livestock show.

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By JEFF SCULLIN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 14, 2008

Updated: 01/13/2008 09:11 pm

The county and state fairs don't begin until next month, but local students have been working for months to get their steers, hogs, heifers, goats and rabbits ready for competition.

With only about a month remaining before the Pasco County Fair weigh-in, preparations kicked into high gear after students returned from their winter break last week.

These "40 days are going to go by so fast. It makes my head spin," said Rob Brown, the agriculture teacher at Zephyrhills High School. "The kids just don't realize it."

Steers need to bulk up to at least 960 pounds by the Feb. 19 weigh-in. Pigs need to weigh at least 230 pounds by Feb. 21.

Between now and then, students will monitor feedings and weights to make sure their animals are developing the optimum balance of muscle and fat, worm their animals one last time, clip their hair and groom them, write letters to prospective buyers, make sure all their equipment is ready for the fair, hone their animals' chops in the show ring and catch up on their record books. That's where students document their animals' weights, when they buy feed and supplies and track profit or loss.

The fair projects serve as a kind of focal point for all the practical and life skills - following rules, hitting deadlines, working through difficulties - the students learn throughout the year.

"It's giving them an opportunity to do something very similar to what real agriculture is about," said Ed Dillard, Pasco High School's agriculture teacher.

Raising an animal to show at the fair goes beyond class work, though. Most who do belong to local FFA or 4-H chapters. Students put in long hours feeding, grooming and training their animals, in addition to classes, homework, chores and whatever else they have going.

"The kids that take on these projects are the motivated kind. They take on a commitment," Dillard said.

All that hard work doesn't seem to be dissuading students. Last year, more than 700 entered animals or plants at the Pasco County Fair, according to fair officials. Of those, 95 students entered steers and 206 entered hogs. Fair officials say they are expecting even more entries, particularly among steers, which are up compared with last year.

In Dade City, Dillard has 20 or 25 students entering animals or plants in the Pasco fair and three entering animals in the Florida State Fair. Overall, students are showing more heifers and fewer hogs this year.

From his group, Brown is expecting 17 or 18 steers, 20 pigs, 12 heifers or bulls and a few chickens. That's up substantially from previous years, he said.

With any luck, the students can sell their steers and hogs for a profit. Most do, unless an animal is underweight or sick or a student's grades aren't good enough for him to show the animal. Unsold animals usually go to a local slaughterhouse or are butchered for personal use.

For the students, it's back to the barn, where life moves at a slower pace after the fair.

"The rest is easy," Brown said. "The pressure's off."

Keyword: FFA, to see Zephyrhills High School students working with their animals. The Tribune is looking for students to submit daily or periodic entries about what they are doing to get their animals ready for the fair. E-mail your stories, photos or vid

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