Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Moooving On: Rogers, 18, FFA president, shows off her steer, 'Phil,' which she's raising at the Westmont High School agricultural program.
Future Farmers
Westmont High School has the only school farm in the Bay Area
By Amy Jenkins
Even though Megan Rogers grew up in the city of Campbell, she has known since the age of 8 that she wanted to raise farm animals. Once she turned 9, she got her first pig, and now, as an 18-year-old senior at Westmont High School, she is the president of the Future Farmers of America (FFA). Over the past 41/2 years she has participated in the school's agricultural program, and she has owned a total of 22 lambs and 20 pigs.
The school farm, located on Westmont Avenue, is a 15-minute walk from the campus and across the street from the school baseball field. There are more than 100 students enrolled in the program, which satisfies an earth science requirement. Students are proposing that the class fulfill a college biology requirement next year, Rogers says.
Even though the farm existed before the school was built and was used for the old Campbell High School, some Westmont High School teachers "don't even know it's here," says Cara Fernandez, the Westmont High School agricultural teacher for the past three years. Fernandez was raised on a dairy farm in Hanford in San Joaquin Valley and was active in the FFA in high school.
The state and the Campbell Union School District support the farm, which was built by students in the 1970s. Today, students do most repairs, maintenance and weeding at the farm.
The program includes classroom instruction about the agricultural business and plant science, a FFA leadership component that most students participate in, and supervised agricultural experience, such as raising animals for the Santa Clara County Fair in July. Students also have the option of working at a veterinary clinic or a feed store rather than raising animals.
But about half of the students buy an animal to raise for between three and nine months before they show it at the fair. Animals are judged as to the quality rating their meat will attain at market, as well as their owner's showmanship, Rogers says. Students own pigs, steer, chickens, turkeys and rabbits. Next month they can buy lambs. The chickens, turkeys and rabbits are raised at home, while the rest are kept in dens or have free range on the farm.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Weighing In: Visiting kindergartners from Forest Hill Elementary School are weighed on a livestock scale by Westmont High School agricultural program students Stuart Pusich, 17, and Catherine Thompson, 16. The class' total weight was 948 pounds, several hundred pounds less than the steer that was weighed before them.
Caring for an animal is a huge responsibility. Students must feed the animal at least twice a day, clean up after it, take care of it when it's sick and groom it. Students even go to the school on holidays to care for the animals.
"It is kind of like taking care of a kid," Rogers says. "You buy their food and the pen fee is like paying for their rent."
While most students buy the animals through the school, Rogers and the FFA secretary, Jessica Zuniga, 17, bought their animals through a farm in Gault. Through the school, pigs are sold for $150 each and it costs $10 for a bag of feed. Financial aid and loans are available to assist with the sometimes high cost of raising the animals.
When the animal is sold at auction, it can often earn a profit. "Some students from other schools are more concerned about winning a contest than earning a profit and spend thousands of dollars on a pig," says Rogers, who does the program as a hobby and plans to go to college for business or marketing.
Students earn different degrees in the FFA program according to how much money they raise or how many hours they put in outside of the classroom. If students earn a $50 profit, they earn a chapter degree; if they earn $1,000 or invest 500 hours outside of the classroom, they earn a state degree; and last year two students won the coveted American degree for earning or investing $7,500, Fernandez says.
"Most students aren't going to be farmers," Fernandez says. "If we were in a farm community or it was 30 years ago, we might expect more farmers. But I teach them that they can't make much money in farming. The program teaches leadership, the responsibility of how to take care of things and how to commit time."
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Farm Girl: Cara Fernandez heads up the Westmont High School agricultural program at the Campbell chapter of the Future Farmers of America.
Joe Hain, 16, is an exception to the rule. He was raised in Campbell but has loved the countryside and wanted to move out of state ever since he visited his uncle's farm in Montana when he was younger.
During his freshman year he asked his mother for a lamb and got one that eventually placed second place in the fair. He then asked for three sheep, and last October he bought a steer, which he named Ty Murray after the bull-riding champion. He also owns one pig, named Talula, and will get two lambs this year.
Hain is learning about the proper nutrition for steer and has put Ty Murray on a diet because he gained too much weight too quickly. The minimum weight for a steer to enter the fair competition is 950 pounds; the maximum is 1,350 pounds, and currently Hain's steer weighs 1,214 pounds.
"[Ty Murray] is on a maintenance program," Fernandez says with a chuckle. "It's kind of like Weight Watchers. We needed to project what weight we wanted the steer at and where it will look it's best when the fair arrives."
Hain's steer was gaining five pounds a day instead of four because he was given too much food. Cutting back on the amount of food has helped cut down on the cost of raising the animal. The Campbell FFA chapter purchases feed but students may also buy feed at Sam's in downtown San Jose, in Santa Cruz or Hollister.
Students do not have much trepidation about the fact that the animals will be slaughtered. Zuniga will not name her pig because of fear of attachment, but named her steer, an Angus Shorthorn, Phil and Mr. Baby. Zuniga and Rogers have eaten animals they have raised. Zuniga's family ate a turkey she raised for Thanksgiving and they keep a portion of the steer for consumption.
Three Babes: Three little pigs at the Westmont High School agricultural program.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
"The way we pick our animals is the way we want to see them on our plates," Zuniga says. "We look at the size of their rear ends, for instance."
Joe Espinosa, 17, says he has become immune to the fact that the animals will be slaughtered. He has been in the program for three years and enjoys the experience of raising animals and bringing his nieces and nephews to the farm to see his steer.
Since there are not many large-animal veterinarians in the area, the students care for many of their own animal's ailments. In the past, the student's animals have had pink eye (conjuntivitis), urinary tract infections and ulcers. And every year prior to this year, a pig has died.
This is the only agricultural program left in San Jose. The two closest programs at other schools are in Morgan Hill and Gilroy. But as long as there is an interest among students and support from the district, the program will be sustained, Fernandez says. Next year 60 students are enrolled for the beginning class; the district allows fewer students to be enrolled in the advanced classes.
Students in the program often recruit students from local middle schools. In the past, the students taught a class period and brought in lambs and chickens. There is a wide variety of interests among students in the agricultural program, Rogers says.
Grants have made it possible to refurbish the greenhouse.
For more information about the farm or to purchase a whole or half an animal, call 408.378.4161.
Campbell, California
