The experience of working at the farm and participating the the county fair.
My experience with cows, pigs, and chickens was really a fun experience during my High School years. For the two years working with farm animals it was really an exciting learning experience for me. It would be nice to do it again. When I was in High school I got involved with an ROP (Regional Occupational Program) called Animal Care class which was held on River road in Salinas ,California. I was working with the farm animals. It definitely was a lot of work. As the class started my Instructor Mr. Watje told me about an FFA organization (Future Farmers of America) which I could join if I had an Agriculture class on my schedule. So I joined the club. It taught me a lot about raising livestock. Although most of my experience was with pigs, I learned quite a bit about the fair experience.
In the Animal Care class, I bought a Hampshire Hog on January 23 of 2003; it weighed about 76 pounds. This was my first pig that was raised for the King City fair, which was a really fun experience. It was a lot of work to raise the pig. I used to ride my bicycle to the farm every day, except on some days I had the day off to get out there and clean the pig pen and feed her. That alone was a lot of work. Upon arrival I was covered with sweat and very tired but still did my duty. One nice thing at least while I was in the ROP class I would get a ride with my instructor and took care of the pig.
Once it came to fair time it was lot of work to set up at the fair. We did a lot of loading and unloading. First day the pigs are expected to get weighed in. My pig weighed in at 234 pounds. She lost some weight on the way up to King City which happens on any long trip due to stress. So what happened was anyone who had a animal or a project would have to set up extra early before it came to the market round and the showmanship rounds. In the market rounds their would be a judge who would place the prize based on the pigs. It is based on muscle tone and market value which was always hard and competitive because so many other students from 4H and FFA clubs competed for 1st prize and best auction price. My first time was 8th place in market. What happens is usually to the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place contestants they go on to another round and then possibly to a final round.
The next day sometimes is the showmanship round which is much more difficult to win at. The first time I did this, the judge placed me at 10th place. In the showmanship round the judge judges the contestants on how they control their pigs and it is based on their appearance of themselves and the hogs appearance that day. Their are certain expectations that are expected from the students. One example is a clean shave of the student and the hog. So it is a little more involved. It is similar to the market round the top 3 get moved on to another round. Some are placed in pins temporally and even in the pin with your pig you are being watched. This all takes place in a ring with other contestants. So it makes it even more competitive. As it comes down to the final round it gets even more difficult. They usually have one final round for the top placed contestants and that is the hardest. The judge sometimes will talk and watch the final contestants. He may even have the contestants do an obstacle course to place the top 3. When it comes down to this he is critical because the top 3 is a tough decision for him or her. I remember watching this round it was intense and seems to put the animals through stress while the top 10 are tired and hot. Once the final decision is made then the contestants get some nice ribbons and sometimes sell better. The market section is the critical one for a good price.
What happens the next day they auction the pigs off. This day is dedicated to getting all the contestants hogs auction off. Some of the hogs that are sold off are used as breeders others well they end up being slaughtered. Apart from that aspect of pig raising, it was really fun and I put about 90 hours into taking care of the pig including farm labor. My pig sold at $5.00 per pound which came out to be over $1000 which was worth it. This does not include any expenses. This fair I did took place between May 14 - 18 of 2003 and was my first and I enjoyed it. After that first fair I decided to do two other fairs. The Monterey fair and the Santa Cruz Fair. Which were better ones than the King City Fair also known as the Salinas Valley Fair. The SVF was my very first experience and was a fun one; that is why I did the other two fairs.