FFA Student Anna Kelly Experimenting with Garlic Eggs

Anna Kelly Feeds Her Chickens Garlic to Flavor Their Eggs with Garlic

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

It’s a very interesting concept, garlic eggs. Flavoring freshly-laid eggs with garlic. How to do it is very simple, according to Anna Kelly with the West Sacramento FFA at River City High School, who is working with a Blue Ameraucana chicken. She had the idea of replicating what your grandparents may have done. They just fed their laying hens some garlic.

Blue Ameraucana Chicken

They wanted to try to change their chickens’ diets cause their chickens were not eating much

And low and behold, the eggs started tasting as if they were seasoned with garlic.

Kelly got the idea of feeding her chicken garlic as a research project.

“I took one garlic clove, and I fed it to my chicken, whose name is Monster, and she loved it,” said Kelly. “And every time when I gave her daily garlic, she would meet me up at her bedding, and it was so cute.”

She found that her chicken wanted the garlic, and sure enough, the eggs had a garlic taste. She asked her culinary arts teacher, Cheryle Sutton to see if she could cook one of her chicken’s garlic eggs. The teacher said okay.

“I cut it up, and I asked several of my teachers to try it,” Kelly said. “And it was amazing; the teachers said it tasted like an actual garlic egg. No salt and pepper, no other additional seasonings.”

“What I’m hoping is to grow my project more. I am incubating more chickens, and I’m going to put them on the same diet. I want to test different varieties of chickens to see which one’s eggs taste more like garlic eggs,” Kelly explained.

Eventually, she may grow the project into a wholesale operation supplying grocery stores with garlic-tasting eggs.

To hear a podcast with Anna Kelly on her garlic eggs experiment, click here.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:17:08-07:00May 3rd, 2019|

CA FFA Leadership Conference April 24-28

91st FFA Annual Conference is in Anaheim

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

The FFA is a leadership and career development organization found in many California high schools. It represents more than 91,000 members from 320 chapters across the state.

About 7,000 of those FFA students will converge on Anaheim from April 24 to 26 for the 91^st Annual Conference.

“There’s going to be some public speaking contests, and the students will participate in workshops by the agricultural colleges and universities throughout the state,” said Matt Patton, Executive Director of California FFA. “They’re also going to conduct the business of the FFA association. It is a true student-run organization.”

All 320 chapters from California will send two delegates to do the organization’s business. There are a couple of items that they’re going to debate on and vote on what will be a change in the bylaws of the FFA. Additionally, they are going to elect their new state officers that will represent the state of California for the upcoming year.

Patton noted the diversity of the California FFA.

“Of the more than 91,000 members, 48 percent are female, and 51 percent are male. Hispanic and Latino members represent 41 percent, 43 percent are Caucasian, with three percent African American. We are very diverse in a large demographic of areas.”

For more information on the upcoming convention: https://www.calaged.org/stateconvention

California Ag Today2019-04-12T16:46:45-07:00April 12th, 2019|

California Farm Bureau Federation Honors Paul Wenger

Former CFBF President Paul Wenger Gets Distinguished Service Award

News Release From California Farm Bureau Federation

Citing his passion for agriculture, his tenacity, and his decades of service to Farm Bureau, the California Farm Bureau Federation presented its Distinguished Service Award to former CFBF President Paul Wenger. Wenger accepted the award during the organization’s 100th Annual Meeting last night in San Diego.

A third-generation farmer who grows almonds and walnuts on a family farm in Modesto, Wenger served as CFBF president from 2009 to 2017, ending his term after serving the maximum eight years in office. He has been a Stanislaus County Farm Bureau member since 1980, serving as county farm bureau president before being elected to the CFBF board and then as a statewide officer beginning in 1997, when he was elected the organization’s second vice president. Wenger also served on the American Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors.

Current CFBF President Jamie Johansson described his predecessor as “tireless” in his work on behalf of the farm bureau and California agriculture.

“In his speech to our Annual Meeting last year, Paul reminded us that those who work the hardest, the longest, and invest the most are probably going to be successful. Although he was referring to Farm Bureau, the words certainly apply to Paul himself. He has remained actively involved in Farm Bureau and agriculture, and we look forward to his continued contributions,” Johansson said.

In nominating Wenger for the award, the Stanislaus County Farm Bureau pointed to his “lifetime in leadership roles in agriculture,” starting as a state Future Farmers of America officer in 1973, and cited “his passion for the industry and his tenacity to resolve problems and get things done.”

The Distinguished Service Award has been presented annually since 1953 to dedicated Farm Bureau volunteers from California. In addition to the award to Wenger, CFBF presented the Distinguished Service Award to longtime Yuba-Sutter Farm Bureau leader James Marler.

The California Farm Bureau Federation works to protect family farms and ranches on behalf of nearly 36,000 members statewide and as part of a nationwide network of nearly 5.6 million Farm Bureau members.

Patrick Cavanaugh2018-12-06T16:04:58-08:00December 6th, 2018|

Red Wave Sale a Success

Red Wave Sale is a Hit at Fresno State

By Melissa Moe and Jessie Theisman, Associate Editors

Every January, Fresno State hosts a large lamb and goat sale, known as the Red Wave Sale. Typically, around 60 lambs and 45 goats are sold in the sale, many of which were bred and raised by students on campus at the Fresno State Sheep Unit. The remaining sheep and all of the goats are consigned to the Red Wave Sale by Fresno State Alumni.

Red Wave Goats Ready for Sale

Student involvement is a huge part of the Red Wave Sale. Fresno State offers a class in which students learn to manage and run a livestock sale and show. The Red Wave Sale is entirely hands on and involves months of preparation to run smoothly. Cameron Rocha is a student at Fresno State who is very involved in the Red Wave Sale and helps manage the Sheep Unit.

”It really starts months and months before – almost before the lambs are even born,” Rocha said. “Getting the sale ready. ‘How we want to do our sale order?’ Dates, times and ideal weights that we want for the lambs. The Red Wave Sale benefits me, as a student. I spend a lot more time, here on campus. It keeps me on campus, keeps me more involved, keeps me out of trouble.”

Not only does the sale benefit students, but it also helps support Fresno State’s Jordan College of Ag. The sale contributes to the Sheep Unit, as well as other programs within the animal science and agriculture education departments.

The Red Wave Lamb and Goat Sale would not be possible without the support of alumni and affiliates. The Pavletich family of Pavletich Club Lambs has been breeding sheep in the Central Valley since 1971, and Scott Pavletich has been bringing lambs to the Red Wave sale for years.

“We’ve been here every year for the past eight or ten years, bringing a consignment. Every year the sale keeps getting better and better. Just like the sheep at Fresno State – they keep getting better and better,” Pavletich said.

Sheep and goats bought at the sale will be hauled to county fairs all around the state, from San Diego to Shasta and everywhere in between. Many of the sheep and goats were also bought by youth exhibitors who compete with their livestock in jackpot-style shows all across the state and in other parts of the nation.

Fresno State’s Red Wave Sale not only has a history of producing happy customers, it produces champions as well. Next month, many of the animals sold in the livestock sale will be shown at the Red Wave Classic, a livestock show put on by the students at Fresno State. The show will feature classes for sheep, goats, hogs and cattle, as well as a futurity class for exhibitors who are showing animals that were bought at the Red Wave Sale.

Patrick Cavanaugh2021-05-12T11:17:11-07:00January 18th, 2017|

FFA Inspired Animal Sciences Major

Fresno State Student Jessie Theisman Wants to Teach Next Generation

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Jessie Theisman grew up in San Diego and is now a senior at Fresno State studying Animal Science. She did not come from a farm family and virtually none of her friends had any knowledge of agriculture.

But then she discovered FFA. “I began my interest in ag my freshman year through FFA, where I started getting involved with lambs. Eventually it turned into goats. Then it turned into cattle,” Theisman said. “After that, I decided I wanted to be an Animal Science major, and I transferred up to Reedley College, where I studied Animal Science and even became involved with the Young Cattlemen’s Committee.”

“I then transferred to Fresno State where I continue my studies in Animal Science and my interest within the YCC. I should be graduating next fall. I’ll take another year to get my credentials, and I’ll be an Animal Science teacher,” she noted.

Another individual who fueled Theisman’s passion in agriculture was her great-grandmother, who had a farm in Anderson, which is in Shasta County, just south of Redding. “Basically, she was the last person we had that was involved in ag.”

Theisman noted that when she got involved with FFA, all the doors opened up for her in high school.

“That’s what lead me to wanting to become an ag teacher so that I could open up those doors for the younger generations themselves,” she said. “I want to make it easier for the younger generation who did not come from an ag background to become involved in ag because that’s a very difficult thing to do if you’re not born into an ag family.

And Theisman is still working with livestock while at Fresno State. “I do breed goats, and I want to give kids the chance to show their animals, get involved in ag, and hopefully, it opens more doors for them, as well as builds confidence.”

“I really hold 4-H and FFA very close to my heart. Those were probably the best years of my life,” she said.

“And I’m still involved with the FFA. I go back to my high school. I volunteer all the time. I do go to the state conference [in Fresno] and I work that through Fresno State.”

Theisman was also involved with the speech contest, the livestock judging contest and the livestock show team.

“All of that was honestly the best years of my life. There is not anything I would ever change … I would never give that up,” she said.

Patrick Cavanaugh2017-02-22T18:37:34-08:00December 27th, 2016|

FFA Jackets Giving Tuesday Campaign

FFA Jackets Needed for Members

By Laurie Greene, Associate Editor

We have Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the newest opportunity, #GivingTuesday—a global day of giving that has grown into a movement uniting people around the world on November 29th, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

There’s a big #GivingTuesday campaign for the California FFA to purchase 100 of those iconic blue FFA jackets for members in need.

FFA Members explore a diverse range of opportunities in agriculture

Katie Otto, development director of the California FFA Foundation said, “We have approximately 84,000 members in California, and 324 different chapters. Our members say having a jacket makes them feel like they are a part of something,” she said.

“It’s something that they hold on to. It makes them feel unified in what they’re doing. ‘Not to mention, a lot of our students wear jackets to field days,” Otto noted.

“They wear them at their county fair when they show, at chapter meetings and conferences. The list goes on and on in terms of opportunities where they wear their jackets.”

Each $65 raised will purchase a jacket along with an FFA tie for young men and a scarf for young women.

Black Friday and Cyber Tuesday are all about getting things; #GivingTuesday is set aside for giving. Of course you do not have to wait for #GivingTuesday for the FFA campaign. You can donate anytime, now and even beyond Nov. 29.

How can you donate to the FFA #GivingTuesday campaign? Go to calaged.org/givingtuesday.

Credit cards and Pay Pal accounts are accepted.

California Ag Today2016-11-10T11:09:44-08:00November 8th, 2016|

FFA Student is Great Reporter

Hughson FFA Student Thrives on Agriculture

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

California FFA Association, a high school youth leadership and career development organization, is very dynamic in the state. FFA chapters are located throughout the state’s agricultural areas. We had a conversation with Michelle Borges, a sophomore at Hughson High School. She is an active member of the Hughson FFA and serves as the 2016-17 FFA Chapter reporter.

“My job is publicizing the FFA to everyone in the community. I write articles to the local newspapers. I’m in charge of the social media for Hughson FFA. Basically any radio broadcast, television broadcast, anything like that to get the word out about FFA,” Borges said.

Borges was also active in the 4-H starting at age five. She raised and sold goats, and she is devoted to California agriculture to this day. “One of the reasons why I love agriculture is because both my parents work in the agriculture industry. Both my brothers were super involved in the FFA, so I was kind of born into it,” she said.

Borges noted that while her family does not farm, they are involved in agricultural education. “My dad is the Dean of Agriculture at Modesto Junior College, and my mom used to be an agriculture teacher in high school, but now she teaches junior high,” she said.

While still in high school, Borges wants to continue pursuing her passion for agriculture. “When I grow up, I want to be an animal nutritionist. I’m really interested in nutrition for animals and I have also raised goats. . . ‘Seeing them grow up and then selling them. That whole project; it is really interesting to me. Also, with FFA, there’s a lot of public speaking competitions and I really enjoy public speaking in front of a crowd,” she said.

To hone her skills for that animal nutrition career, Borges plans to go to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, after she graduates from high school.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:17:11-07:00October 12th, 2016|

Fresno State Launches New Agricultural Leadership Program

Fresno State’s Avery Culbertson Launches Solid Agricultural Leadership Program

By Lauren Dutra, Associate Editor

Dr. Avery Culbertson, who is passionate about agricultural leadership joined California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) in August, in a newly created position to develop an Ag leadership curriculum for the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology.

Dr. Culbertson’s interest in Ag leadership was initially sparked by “being a product of National FFA Organization* (FFA). You have a lot of role models and influences around you. You start getting an idea of what Ag leadership is,” said Culbertson.

“After I got my degree in agricultural education and was looking for a job, I met with a colleague who said, ‘There are adult leadership programs around the country, and I want you to start one at New Mexico State University.’”

Having been trained by the California Agricultural Leadership Program, Culbertson was confident that she could successfully launch a program. “They really opened their arms to me,” she commented, “and provided resources. As that progressed, I started defining what leadership was.”

Culbertson asserted, “An agricultural leadership program is not only [about] understanding our industry, but understanding our customer. That became very important to me in and outside of the job. The only way that agriculture can lead in society is by understanding our stakeholders.”

Culbertson thinks it is critical not only to know how to lead—having the skill set to be a great speaker or to be knowledgeable in different fields,” she explained, “we also need to know who we are leading. As I’ve been discussing with my classes right now, leadership is a matter of taking a group of people and accomplishing a collective goal,” she said.

*National FFA Organization (FFA), formerly known as Future Farmers of America, helps students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

California Ag Today2016-09-21T10:50:45-07:00September 21st, 2016|

New FFA State Stars Honored

Halley Lauchland Wins FFA Star State Degree in Agriscience Award

By Charmayne Hefley, Assistant Editor

During the opening session of the 88^th California Future Farmers of America (FFA) State Convention in Fresno last Saturday night, four California FFA members were honored with the top Star Awards during an onstage ceremony. As reported by the California FFA Association in a press release, each of them excelled in one of four areas:

Andrea Thomas from the Colusa FFA chapter was named the California Star Farmer state winner in recognition of proven leadership skills for an aspiring young farmer. Thomas raises and maintains hogs, cattle and hay.

Halley Lauchland, 2016 FFA Star State Degree in Agribusiness Award winner

Halley Lauchland, 2016 FFA Star State Degree in Agriscience Award winner (Photo Credit: California FFA)

Nitin Gupta from the Tulare FFA chapter was named the California Star in Agribusiness state winner, the highest achievement for a person pursuing a career in agribusiness. Gupta started the business Simple Sand three years ago in which he collects, markets and distributes sand from his family’s ranch to local businesses.

Paul Barcellos, also from the Tulare FFA chapter, was named the California Star in Agricultural Placement state winner, the highest recognition in the state for a young person excelling in job placement in the agricultural industry. Barcellos works alongside his dad at Cain Trucking as a Foreman in the Composting and Air Pollution Control Operations in recycling agriculture products and preventing air pollution.

Halley Lauchland, a high school junior from the Lodi FFA chapter received the 2016 FFA Star State Degree in Agriscience Award, the highest achievement for a person pursuing a career in agriscience.

“My project was cane pruning for the control of Eutypa Dieback in winegrapes,” A fifth-generation winegrape grower, Lauchland told CalAgToday, “The disease is commonly found in cabernet franc finds.”

Lauchland conducted her research in part to help her family’s 18-year-old vines with the Eutypa Dieback disease, which she defined as “a fungal spore that enters the vine through pruning wounds. This will eventually kill the vine, causing the farmer to have to replant, which costs a lot of money and isn’t efficient.”

Lauchland tested cane pruning versus the commonly-used method of spur pruning to keep the disease at bay. “We tested two rows and found [cane pruning] was a more efficient way to do it, and it was going to save us more money in the long-run.” Spotting her research catching on in local vineyards, Lauchland said “It seems people are going to the cane prune.”

Lauchland’s research was published in the Lodi District Grape Growers Association Update last year as, “Lodi High School Student to Compete in State FFA Agriscience Fair with Eutypa Dieback Research Project.” Lauchland stated, “That helped put out the word, what this [method] does and how it helps farmers.”

Overjoyed to have been selected to win the Star in Agriscience award, Lauchland said, “Words can’t really describe how I feel right now.”

The California Future Farmers of America (FFA) State Convention was sponsored by PG&E and the J.G. Boswell Foundation, as a special project of the California FFA Foundation.

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:00:55-07:00April 27th, 2016|

Agriculture Science Recognition Awards, Part 2 – Meghan Loper

Agriculture Science Recognition Awards, Part 2 –

Meghan Loper Receives Fresno State Science Recognition Award

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

Assemblyman Jim Patterson joined Dr. Sandra Witte, dean of the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) and Lawrence Salinas, Fresno State’s executive director of Government Relations, at the 23rd Assembly District’s 2016 Agriculture Science Recognition Awards on March 17 at Fresno State.

California Ag Today will highlight each of four Fresno State students in the Fresno State Honoree series, Meghan Loper, Megen Morales, Elizabeth Mosqueda and Nick Wolfenden, who were selected from among several students nominated for their dedication to the future of agriculture in the Central Valley.

“These brilliant students represent the best of the best,” said Assemblyman Patterson. “Their devotion to making a difference in our agriculture science community is to be commended and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them.”

______________________________________

Meghan Loper, is a master’s student at California State University, Fresno (Fresno State), in the poultry science field, working on animal welfare.

“She currently has a bachelor’s degree in animal science and livestock production management,” said California Assemblyman Jim Patterson. “She also teaches the animal health, welfare and poultry production class in the Poultry Science Department,” noted Patterson.

Most recently, Loper researched the economic significance of the number of chickens living in the same chicken house. Her study quantified the amount of chickens per house and its effect on economic return with the goal of understanding the threshold at which the number of chickens starts to have a negative impact on animal welfare. “She hoped the work would provide information to people about the importance of the welfare of chickens in the poultry industry,” said Patterson, “as the issue is obviously becoming more of a hot topic industry-wide, as well as for consumers, and it even touches the California Legislature.”

Loper has been a member of the Poultry Science Club and the Enterprise Manager of the Foster Farms Poultry Education and Research Facility at Fresno State for the last three years. She volunteers for a local 4-H Club and will be organizing a second FFA field day in April.

Loper is also involved with animals of a different type; she has raised 12 guide dogs for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

“This is an individual, as are our other three honorees, who is making plans and getting prepared to make a living, but you are also making a life,” Patterson said to Loper. “And it is that life that we honor today.”

Loper said, “We have been experimenting with the different amount of birds that can be put into production house. What is too many? What is not enough? And, what’s going to be best for the birds in the long run,” Loper elaborated.

“I’m hoping to get a job in the poultry industry,” said Loper. “I want to make a difference somehow.”

______________________________________

California Ag Today2021-05-12T11:05:57-07:00March 29th, 2016|

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California Ag News…
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Anna Kelly Feeds Her Chickens Garlic to Flavor Their Eggs with Garlic

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

91st FFA Annual Conference is in Anaheim

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Editor

Former CFBF President Paul Wenger Gets Distinguished Service Award

News Release From California Farm Bureau Federation

Red Wave Sale is a Hit at Fresno State

Fresno State Student Jessie Theisman Wants to Teach Next Generation

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

FFA Jackets Needed for Members

By Laurie Greene, Associate Editor

Hughson FFA Student Thrives on Agriculture

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Farm News Director

Fresno State’s Avery Culbertson Launches Solid Agricultural Leadership Program

By Lauren Dutra, Associate Editor

Halley Lauchland Wins FFA Star State Degree in Agriscience Award

By Charmayne Hefley, Assistant Editor

Agriculture Science Recognition Awards, Part 2 –

Meghan Loper Receives Fresno State Science Recognition Award

By Patrick Cavanaugh, Deputy Editor

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California Ag News… At Your Fingertips!

California Ag News…
At Your Fingertips!