AVON PARK — Volunteers, students and prison inmates are finishing up two new Avon Park Future Farmers of America barns at 1180 E. Winthrop St., which are now "90 percent complete," according to FFA Alumni Association members. The new structures would allow Avon Park high and middle school students to hold their pigs and cattle without having to borrow a spare acre from friends outside of the city. Even though all three high schools have agriculture students who raise farm animals for show at events such as the Highlands County Fair, Avon Park never had its own barn. Before August, when the students need to weigh in their animals for the next Highlands County Fair, they will have 24 hog and 12 cattle pens for those who don't have enough land to raise the livestock. FFA Alumni President Sally Perry said the cattle barn will have its first steers and heifers June 22, the day of the planned ribbon-cutting ceremony. ...more

June 8, 2008

Meet: Sarah Joyce, 16, Land O' Lakes I have been in the agriculture program since my ninth-grade year and have been showing heifers at the Pasco County and Florida State fairs since then. I love being in this program, because I have a lot of fun, and it's also a great experience for someone who loves animals. ...more

February 10, 2008