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Gearing Up For County Fairs
Summer has always been my favorite season, especially fair weeks. I exhibited animals and projects at Stoughton Fair and the Jefferson County Fair, which were always the first two weeks of July. It was a crazy busy time for my family, but so fun and rewarding. All of my favorite memories are from fair weeks and it’s where I met some of my best friends from all over the county. Preparing projects for the fair takes a lot of hard work, time, and money; especially for animal projects. Depending on the species, you begin training your animal anywhere from 3 months to 10 months before the fair. You have to…
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FFA
FFA is an agriculture-based student organization that focuses on preparing students for their future careers in the agriculture industry. FFA changed their name to stand for the National FFA Organization in 1988 as opposed to their previous name “Future Farmers of America” as their membership became more diverse. Most members now didn’t grow up on farms, nor do they plan on becoming farmers, but they have a passion for agriculture and leadership in some form. FFA has many opportunities that most aren’t aware of. Every year, the organization hosts multiple leadership conferences in each state. These conferences aren’t directed toward agriculture; it’s strictly learning new leadership skills while making friends…
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Where it’s Going
In my previous blog post, I introduced myself and shared my background in agriculture. I wanted to note that while my time in 4-H and FFA is done, and I no longer raise and show animals at the fair, the passion never goes away. I’m currently a second-semester sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, majoring in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations, a minor in Marketing, and a certificate in Event Planning and Promotion. While none of this is ag-based, that’s my ultimate goal after graduation; to obtain a job in the ag industry. My favorite thing to do is educate others on agriculture, and I’m hoping to find…
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Where it Started
Growing up on a farm was always a dream of mine. Both of my parents grew up on farms; my dad raised swine with my grandpa and bought a couple dairy heifers to show at county fairs and my mom was raised on a beef farm and showed steers at local, county, and state fairs. My grandparents sold both of those farms long before my brothers and I were born, but agriculture was still a huge part of my family. My mom’s dad, who we call Poppa, owned a livestock hauling business. Summer, spring or winter break, or even on snow days, we’d call Poppa and load up in his…