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Kids Train at Dairies, Then Milk It for Win

Posted on: Monday, 15 May 2006, 12:05 CDT

By John Holland, The Modesto Bee, Calif.

May 13--All four members of Turlock High School's dairy cattle judging team have grown up on dairy farms.

So have a lot of the students they faced in the state finals for this FFA competition last week at California State University, Fresno, and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Extra bursts of hard work, including on-the-farm observation, landed the Turlock team in first place, adviser Lori Marchy said.

"It's not like they learn this in the classroom," she said. "They do it outside on their own time."

The Turlock team -- Blake Alvernaz, Gary Bettencourt, Heather Borba and Sarah Fiorini -- was one of several from the Northern San Joaquin Valley and central Sierra Nevada to win state FFA titles.

Modesto, Beyer, Hilmar, Atwater, Buhach Colony, Escalon and Bret Harte high schools also were among the firstplace winners.

Several students from the region placed first as individuals in the events.

The state champs go on to the national finals in Indianapolis in October.

FFA -- formerly known as Future Farmers of America -- teaches young people the skills they need to produce crops and livestock. Many nonfarm teens are involved, too.

The competitions are exacting, as Fiorini explained with dairy cattle judging.

"We're looking for dairy characteristics -- cleanliness, udder capacity and strength," she said. "It's to further our knowledge of how to select animals for our own herds."

FFA RESULTS: Teams and individuals from the region finished high in these events:

--Agricultural mechanics: Hilmar team third; Hilmar member Dirk Piersma third.

--Agricultural sales: Escalon team second; Escalon member Katie Veenstra first.

--Agriscience fair, advanced: Escalon team first; Davis team second; Escalon member Katie Veenstra first.

--Agriscience fair, novice: Davis team third.

--Agronomy: Beyer team first, Pitman team fourth; Beyer members Julianne Phillips third, Tiffany Tchouboukjian fourth and Inna Peshkova fifth.

--Dairy cattle judging: Turlock team first, Los Banos team second, Gustine team third, Hilmar team fifth; Turlock member Heather Borba first, Gustine member Brianne Filippini second, Turlock's Gary Bettencourt third, Turlock's Sarah Fiorini fourth, Los Banos' Robby Thommen fifth.

--Farm power and machinery: Buhach Colony team first, Merced-Golden Valley team second, Turlock team third, Ripon team fifth; Merced-Golden Valley member Michael C. Kliber first, Turlock member Tim Scully second, Buhach Colony member Cody Nunes third, Merced-Golden Valley member Kyle Harrison fourth, Buhach Colony member Mario Bandoni fifth.

--Floriculture: Atwater team first; Atwater's Shoua Lor fifth.

--Forestry: Mariposa team fifth.

--Job interview: Atwater-Buhach Colony member Kristen Tortin first, Merced-Golden Valley member Kristin Kleiber third.

--Land judging: Mariposa team second; Mariposa members Richard Chapman first and Jordan Ridenhour fifth.

--Livestock judging: Escalon team fourth, Modesto team fifth; Modesto member Brad Mendes first.

--Marketing plan: Pitman team fifth.

--Marketing: Bret Harte team fifth; Bret Harte member Kary Griffith second.

--Meat judging: Sierra team fifth.

--Milk quality and dairy foods: Bret Harte team first, Livingston team second, Atwater team fourth; Bret Harte member Amanda Berry first, Livingston member Gabriella Coronado second, Bret Harte member Keith Collins fourth, Patterson member Marie Bays fifth.

--Parliamentary procedure, advanced: Turlock team fifth.

--Poultry judging: Bret Harte team first, Davis team fourth, Pitman team fifth; Bret Harte member Kelsey Landreth third, Bret Harte member Jennifer Rippert fourth, Davis member Aaron Hardrick fifth.

--Scrapbook: Escalon team fourth.

--Small engines: Hilmar team first, Ripon team third, Buhach Colony team fourth, Merced- Golden Valley team fifth; Hilmar member Jose Cuevas first, Merced/Golden Valley member Harlan Durant second, Hilmar members Nathan Garcia fourth and Benjamin Fletcher fifth.

--Sweepstakes: Escalon team first.

--Tree judging: Modesto team first, Pitman team fifth; Modesto member Kayla Alberti first.

--Vegetable crops: Davis team fourth; Davis member Sara Pearson third, Denair member Chanel Martins fourth.

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To see more of The Modesto Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.modbee.com

Copyright (c) 2006, The Modesto Bee, Calif.

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Source: The Modesto Bee

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