FFA Field Day at the LA
County Fair Proves Invaluable

The Santa Paula High School agriculture students filled a charter bus and joined over 500 high school students throughout Southern California at the LA County Fair FFA Field Day in Pomona on Saturday, September 20. The FFA Field Day marks the beginning of the FFA judging season where thousands of students throughout California compete in various agriculture skill contests. Contests are held at major community colleges and universities up and down the state of California. 

The Santa Paula FFA participated in two events, the Agriculture Scavenger Hunt, and Vegetable Judging. The Santa Paula FFA Vegetable Judging team made up of sophomores, juniors and seniors combined their skills in to identify various edible vegetable portions, pest id, weeds id, disease id, and judged three classes of vegetables – potatoes, onions, & carrots. “For many this was their first ever competition,” said FFA advisor Alex Flores, “This was an opportunity to learn and establish a foundation to build upon.” The Agriculture Scavenger Hunt allowed freshman to explore the various agriculture exhibits throughout the fair. Kids learned about livestock production, crop production, soil science, dairy science, water science, and many more agricultural topics. The LA County fair is renovating their facilities to reach out to the community and provide many educational opportunities to learn more about agriculture. 

This was the first contest of the year for many FFA programs throughout the state of California. The primary judging season begins March 7th at UC Davis followed by Chico State University, Reedley College, Merced College, Modesto Junior College, Fresno State, and the 2016 FFA State Finals at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in May.  “The LA County Fair was a tremendous opportunity for the students to gain experience and demonstrate their speaking skills to help promote and develop self confidence, educational enhancement, and career skills,” said Flores, “We’re all very proud of our students and take pride in their representation of our school and community,” said Mr. Flores.