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FFA beef and swine students still at high school

Although most Fallbrook High School students are taking care of their classwork at home rather than at the school, Future Farmers of America members who were undertaking beef and swine projects are still making trips to the school to care for their animals while FFA advisor Doug Sehnert is taking care of other animals in the FFA barn.

The students' trips to the FFA barn are not associated with the academic portion of their project. "They're keeping the animals alive," said Fallbrook High School Principal Narciso Iglesias.

"They're safeguarding life," Iglesias said. "For me the priority is keeping the animals well and alive."

The FFA barn is on school grounds but is separated from the classrooms and has a separate entrance, which is gated.

"I've been in communication with them," Sehnert said.

The Fallbrook FFA members who have been raising cattle are caring for their animals at the school. "A lot of these kids have nowhere else to keep them," Sehnert said. "Those kids are responsible to take care of their animals, and I'm just a phone call away from them."

Cattle are more than a year old when they are brought to the San Diego County Fair, and the beef project students had been taking care of their steers before the closure of the school which occurred after the conclusion of classes March 13.

The lambs arrived March 24, after Fallbrook High School was closed. The goats are bred on campus, but they had not been physically handed over to the students with FFA goat projects. "The students have not started taking care of those," Sehnert said.

The FFA sheep and goat students are staying at home. "Just easier for me to take care of them, keep them all," Sehnert said.

Margaret Chapman is the FFA advisor for swine projects. The pigs arrived at the high school March 16.

"It's a combination I would say. There are some kids who are coming down like they would be expected to under normal circumstances," Chapman said.

Other FFA swine students cannot travel to the school due to transportation or other issues.

"I'm keeping an eye on all of them so the animals aren't going to go neglected," Chapman said.

A separate quarantine eliminated chicken and turkey projects. The Newcastle Disease epidemic canceled all poultry at last year's San Diego County Fair (excluding processed meat), and that quarantine will also render the 2020 county fair devoid of chickens, turkeys and show birds.

"We're not doing poultry this year. We're still under the Newcastle Disease quarsantine," Sehnert said.

The quarantine will last until the Newcastle Disease is eradicated. "The only way you can do that is to basically wipe it out," Sehnert said.

"With Newcastle Disease in poultry there's really not a recovery for it," Sehnert said. "There's not a vaccine. There's not a treatment."

The virulence of Newcastle Disease makes the two quarantines comparable. "There's a lot of similarities as far as the coronavirus," Sehnert said.

Newcastle Disease cannot be transmitted from poultry to humans. "With the COVID-19 it's not being passed to the livestock, either," Sehnert said. "This disease does not affect the livestock at all."

What is proper hygiene to limit transmission of diseases animals can spread to humans is also proper hygiene in reducing the risk of transmitting the coronavirus. "We're following the guidelines as far as washing our hands and all that stuff," Chapman said.

"It's kind of like a real-life lesson to these kids," Sehnert said of the hygiene practices.

The students are also at the barn at specified times as there is a limit to the number of students who can be at the barn at one time, and students must stay 6 feet away from each other.

FFA projects include a business plan which addresses the financial expenses of raising the animals and the revenue from the sale at auction or a barn sale. "Every project has a plan for it," Sehnert said. "They need to do that before they start the project. We had those all done, completed, before school being called."

The business plan thus anticipates sales of the animals by the end of the San Diego County Fair. The county fair is scheduled to begin June 5. The week for market livestock begins June 29 and continues through July 5, which is also the final day of this year's county fair.

County fair administrative staff members are working with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to determine the future course of action, but the suspension of mass gatherings has not been extended into June and the county fair is currently scheduled as planned. The Youth Fair scheduled for May 15-16 at Fallbrook High School is also currently scheduled as planned.

Cancellation of the county fair would eliminate the auction as well as barn sales at the fair, and while that could affect the revenue it would not affect the business plans the students have created. "There's a lot of uncertainties in life," Sehnert said. "There's a lot of unknowns."

An animal must receive a blue ribbon to be sold at the fair auction, and an exhibitor may only sell one large animal at auction (an exception is made if the same person raises more than one FFA or 4-H grand champion or reserve champion animal). If the animal is not sold at auction a barn sale is negotiated.

The business plan includes finding buyers for the animals, both at an auction if the recruited buyer is not outbid and in the event of a barn sale. "They've got to have buyers lined up," Sehnert said.

Brian Kantner has taken over as Fallbrook High School's FFA advisor for the horticulture program. Kantner had previously been on the Fallbrook faculty and returned after Meaghan Alvarez, who was the FFA horticulture advisor for the past two years, returned to Yuba County for a teaching position at the same high school she attended. Kantner was at Watsonville High School for the 2018-19 school year and was involved with the FFA program there.

"Fortunately, our plants don't get COVID," Kantner said.

Individual student projects would grow plants at the student's home regardless of whether the school was closed. "That's normal for students to have their plants at home," Kantner said. "Hopefully the students are taking care of the plants."

Some plants are at the high school. "I'm taking care of all the school horticulture facilities," Kantner said.

Although those plants are cultivated in the homes, the FFA advisor normally visits those residences to evaluate the progress. "We just have to do it digitally," Kantner said.

A physical visit may still take place if issues arise with the plant. "It puts one more thing for us to be able to get there and help them," Kantner said.

The FFA's plant sale March 7 raised more than $1,000. "The kids were excited," Kantner said.

The next plant sale was scheduled for April 18 and was canceled. The May 16 plant sale has not been canceled or rescheduled.

"The kids are resilient," Kantner said.

The county fair has a garden exhibit which includes FFA horticulture projects. "That's going to be an interesting challenge," Kantner said.

Under normal circumstances the students spend about a month designing the garden and about four days setting up the project at the fairgrounds before the opening of the county fair. "Everything's still fluid right now. We're trying to figure this out as we go," Kantner said. "Hopefully we get some things back to normal."

Before the garden is designed, the students select a theme for the garden based on the county fair's theme. The theme for the 2020 county fair is Heroes Unite, which recognizes both superheroes and community heroes.

Kantner noted that the students do not need to physically be together to select a theme. "They already practice social distancing by texting each other even when they're in the same room," he said.

Kantner may also have a contest to select the theme.

Obtaining donations for the fair garden project can be done by phone, but that is contingent upon the nurseries being in a position to donate.

"It's going to be a bumpy road, but I'm sure we'll get through it," Kantner said.

"I just appreciate the support the community has given us over the years and hope that we can get through these challenging times," Sehnert said.

Author Bio

Joe Naiman, Writer

Joe Naiman has been writing for the Village News since 2001

 

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