Students successfully compete and capitalize with their animals
at county fair
By Jessica Thy Nguyen Special to the dispatch
Gilroy – The clamor of competition at this year’s Santa Clara County Fair ended with success for Gilroy High School’s Future Farmers of America students.
“It was actually one of the best years I had,” Magen Stone, 15, said. She will be a junior at GHS and has been raising animals since the age of 5. Her hog, Billy, placed second in his market class, seventh in the showmanship competition, weighed 224 pounds and was sold to Nob Hill Foods for $2.75 a pound. She sold her pig last year for 50 cents less per pound.
“The higher [the animal] places in the market class, the better spot [it] gets in the auction. You want to get first or second,” Stone said of the competition.
The competition process does not guarantee a buyer for the animal, but the higher the animal ranks, the better chances of it being looked at by a buyer and being sold.
All the students are aware that the animals they sell at the fair are slaughtered, and the meat is either eaten or sold by the buyer. The buyers pay a price per pound and the fair takes a 2 to 5 percent commission.
Heather Nolan, agricultural instructor and FFA advisor at Gilroy High, said that animals are usually sold for $2 to $3 per pound, but the price depends on the animal raised. She also said that lambs price higher than steer, but only because they weigh less.
“I thought it was more well organized. We had less issues,” Nolan said of the fair. She said that last year’s events did not take place on time and a judge arrived late for a competition.
Nolan also said that all eight of the students who raised animals to sell at the fair were able to find buyers. Nine students participated, but one raised a breeder lamb not meant for auction.
Regina Lopez, 16, raised a lamb named Bo Peep, which placed first in its class and fourth in showmanship. It weighed 106 pounds and was sold to Nob Hill Foods for $4.25 per pound.
Lopez said she joined the FFA last year in order to learn about raising an animal and that this year’s fair experience was much more relaxing.
Jiana Escobar, 18, another returning competitor, raised three animals for the county fair. She sold her pig Jewel, which placed second in its market class, third in showmanship and weighed 267 pounds, for $3 a pound to the assistant livestock superintendent of the competition.
Escobar’s other animals were breeding animals, a lamb and a heifer. The heifer, named Glory, won reserve grand champion grade and placed fourth in showmanship.
Escobar said that she has always enjoyed being a part of the FFA and advocates the community’s support in order to clear away negative stereotypes about the organization.
“A lot of people misunderstand us,” she said. “It’s really about the leadership. They just see the whole farming thing and put a stereotype on it. Anybody can be a part of it.”
Although the process of selling the animals isn’t the main focus of the experience, Escobar, who will be attending Modesto Junior College, said, “It’s not enough to pay for college but it’s enough to get you started.”
The organization fosters leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. Their motto is, “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.”
