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Above, members

of the

Ravenna,

Nebraska

FFA

Chapterhold a

mock

judging contest asAdvisorKent Zeller offerstips. Right,the chapter analyzes data from thepastureprogram onthe school'smicrocomputer.

I

^

/

i

IIIIIIIH

36

How

^{often does one find a vo-ag}

program

thatprovides a

community

service, gives students livestock

man- agement

experience in a real-life lab- oratory,teachesmicrocomputerlivestock analysis skills

and makes

a thousand bucksforthe

FFA

chaptertoboot?

The

answer: rarely.

But such isthecase atthe Ravenna, Nebraska, vo-ag department, wherethe goal is to provide vo-ag students with

"human

profits"ofskillsandexperiences.

And

it allbeginsin anearby pasture.

AdvisorKent Zellerand his

band

of 50-plus

FFA members

annuallyconduct the

FFA

Chapter's "Pasture

Manage-

ment" program. Fueled by school ad- ministration and

community

support, this unique learning set-up benefits all

who

areinvolved.

With

such a success rate, naturally almost everyone is involved,

from

the greenest

Greenhand up

to the local bankingofficials.

"It's

hands-on

experience for the students,"saysAdvisorZeller,citingthe most importantbenefit ofall.

The Ravenna

Chapterbegan leasing a 120-acrepasturefromthe localschool districtseven years ago. Atthetimethe land

came

completewith

broken-down

fence lines, huge clumps of thistles, a badcase of overgrazing

and

ahazardous junk yard

smack

inthe middleofitall.

The

school asked thechapterto pay^its lease by cleaning the pasture up

and

providingall necessarymaintenance.

Althoughinitialprojects

—

^a

new

fence, cleaning out thejunk pile— have since been taken care of, the

members

still

provide on-going solutions to weed,

thistle, grass

and

any other problems that

come

up.

The

chapterbuiltacorral facilitythat's usedin theprogram.

In return, the chapter rents pasture space to individualsto keep steers on.

The

chargeis 1 centsapound.

"We

can put out 13,750

pounds

of beef at the beginningof the year

on

thegrass,"says Advisor Zeller. "Usually that averages out toabout 26 animals. They'll go on

UNICK: "Sometimes, even for those of ^us who work on the farm, dad does

the

work and

you don't

get

a chance

tosee

how

it's

done."

pasture

May

¹ and

come

out in early October."

The

chapter's clientele ranges from

FFA members

to local townspeople

who

simplywanttosupporttheprogram.

"Firstpreferenceis

FFA

members,"says Mr. Zeller. "Next,

anybody

(such as relatives)

who

hasan animalthey'dlike to have on the program.

And

third preference is business people. Several businesses willgo in on agroupeffort,

wherethechapterbuysagroupofcalves andthegroup'sponsors'them."

Is the

program

popular?

"We

have people on a waiting list," says Mr.

Zeller. "It'snotthattheyneedtohavea calf

on

the pasture,but theywanttobe in

on

theprogram."

Anyone

with acalfonthe

program

^is charged the

same

10-cent per

pound

rental fee,regardlessofprofit orloss at the end ofthe year. Ifan individualor group wants to sponsor calves, the chapterwill goto the local salebarnto purchase,provide truckingtothe pasture,

and

market

them

attheend oftheyear at the best price available.

Coststothechapter include branding, implant

and

medicine costs, transpor- tation,minerals, feed

and

pasturemain- tenance (sprayingandfencingmaterials).

But thekey benefitistheexperience.

"A

lot ofpeople have never

worked

calves before, so they gain a lot," says DirkUnick,lastyear'schapterpresident.

"Sometimes, even for those of us

who work on

the farm,

dad

does the

work and you

don'tgetachanceto see

how

^it's

done."

"The

students

do

all the hands-on

work

of getting thecattlereadytogo on

The Ravenna

Chapteralso earned first

place in the Nebraska

BOAC program

this year.

Among

several

community

activities, the chapter organized Arbor

Day

treeplantings,left,

and

above, put

up name

plaques at a retired citizens'

home.

pasture. It also provides vet

work

to those

who

are inexperienced," echoes Mr.Zeller.

Ravenna

hastheir

own FFA

registered

brand which

goes

on

all

animals in the program.

The

advisor says as far as he knows, it's the only registered

FFA

brand likeit.

At the beginning of each season sponsorsreceiveacontractandbeginning statistics on the calves.

"We

have a written agreement with each sponsor,"

says Mr. Zeller. "That

way we

can get students accustomed to writing

down

agreements, provisions

and what

^is expected interms of a contract."

Throughout

the year

FFA members

keepdetailed statisticson each animal, such as weight estimates, costs

and

healthinformation. Several

more

"learn- ingby doing"activities willalsohappen:

vaccinating, implanting, estimating weights and using the steers for

mock

judgingcontests.

The

local veterinarian givesdemonstrationsandprovides

med-

icine at cost.

When

the calves are marketed price per hundredweight, average daily gain andfinalweight istabulated andsent to eachsponsor. Mr. Zeller,promoting an

"opengate"policy,says"anyone can go up there and check their calves.

We

welcome

their suggestions."

Sponsors

and

contributors in the

community do

checkontheircalves,but not because they doubt the vo-ag stu- dents'livestock abilities. "It getsa little

competitive

among

sponsors," says the instructor.

"We

have guys with Sim- mentals, Holsteins, Angus, Longhorns, Shorthorns, Charolais

—

^we'vehadevery- thinginthere.

Those

guyswantto

know how

their steer does and if it

made money

ornot."

This fall the

Ravenna

Chapter is

stepping into the

computer

age with theirlearning by doing program. Three

FFA members,

aftertakinga

computer

programing course, created a

program

thatallowsthepastureproject tobefiled

and

tabulated electronically

on

the school's microcomputer. "Before that

we

figureditalloutby handcalculating everythingintheclassroom,"saysDirk.

"Then

we'd give the data sheet to the sponsors so they couldsee what

we

are doing."

The

chapter has utilized the pasture

program

torunproductiontestssince^its first year. "We've researched, for ex- ample, which size steer gains better

—

a

400-pounder or a 600-pounder," says Mr. Zeller.

"We

go throughand tryto evaluate which groups

do

better and why. I think students can use this info laterin their

own

farming programs."

And

that'sjustwhattheseexperiences gained at the school's pasture

manage- ment program

are intended to

do

—

provide students with abackgroundfor thefuture. Inthecase of

Ravenna FFA,

the skills and experiences are

human

profitsthatwillpaydividendsforalong

timetocome. ^•••

37

Texas Teamwork

Thishard-drivin'father/son

team have found

that

"team

effort"

and enthusiasm

for

vo-ag can

really

pay

off.

As

_a^everyone_full-time ^{knows,teachingvo-agis}

profession.Withstudents to visit, judging teams to coach and

FFA

meetings to attend, life can be prettybusy foran agteacher.

Life can get pretty busy for vo-ag

do more

activities

— on

thefarm, inthe studentstoo,withallthe

FFA

activities showringorintheclassroom

—

between

to keepup with.

them

than a chapterful ofag teachers

ButWylieTaliaferroof Scurry,Texas, and

FFA members

puttogether.These andhis16-year-oldsonChris

manage

to tworedefinethe

word

"energetic."

TheNational

FUTURE

FA

RMER

Mr.

Taliaferro teaches vo-ag at

Scurry-Rosser High School in Texas, where

FFA'er

Chrisisastudent.But^it's only the beginning of a long list of activitiestaken

on

bythese two.

When

Mr. Taliaferro or Chris is not in the classroom, or

on

a judging trip, or visiting vo-ag students, you're sure to find either one or both of

them

at the Taliaferro's

"Double T" home

ranch, tendingto the family's 350-head Santa Gertrudisherd.

Or

custom plowing andplantingcrops, all5,000acresworth(lastyear's

custom

fieldwork average, saysMr.Taliaferro).

Or

showingcattleata

show

somewhere.

Or

baling hay (most recent estimate:

15,000 round bales and 40,000 square bales peryear.)

Whew!

Of

course, the family hires labor to help

manage

theranch.

Even

withhired hands though, there's still

more

than

enough work

tokeepup with.

These

two

have found a secret to maintaining such a schedule: a deep- rooted dedication

and

enthusiasm to

FFA,

whichserves astheprimarysource ofenergyforbothteacherandstudent, both father and son. Chris takes his father's lead, demonstrating as

much

enthusiasm for vo-ag and

FFA

as his

dad

has for teaching it.

When

Mr.

Taliaferro is gone for one reason or another

—

and plenty of reasons can

come

up with such a schedule

—

^Chris

handlesallthe responsibilities at

home,

providing yet another clue behind the twosome: teamwork.

"Both of us

know

what has to be done,"saysMr.Taliaferro."Chris takes

Left,Chris takescareoffeeding theherd ofSantaGertrudiscattle

when

his

dad

is

away. Above, Wylie, left, and Chris.

"When

I'm

gone

I never worry about anything,"saysWylie.

October-November.1983

careof the place

when

I'mgone,feeding, watering, grindingfeed.

And when

I'm gone, I neverworry about anything. In fact,theonly troubleIeverhadwith

him was making him

wait to join

FFA

before he could get one of those blue jackets."

WithChris,taking careofthe livestock

is a natural. He, like the rest of the family (younger sister Sheri

and Mom

Loretta)isanavid

showman,

and spends

many

hours

grooming

andtraining

show

steers.

"The only trouble

I

ever had

with him was making him wait

to

join FFA before he could

get

one of ^{those blue}

jackets."

The

Taliaferrosput their

show

steers

on

a

ground

oats and corn, hay

and

supplement ration.

They

also provide pastureforthe herd.

Mr. Taliaferro

became

interested in

SantaGertrudiscattle

when

heattended college several yearsago.

He

bought a bull

and

plannedtocrossbreedwiththe family's Hereford

cow

herd.

"When

I first brought

him

in,

daddy

didn'twant that bull on the pasture," laughs Mr.

Taliaferro, "until he

saw

thecross-bred calves.

They

turned outprettygood.

We

both likedwhat

we

saw."

Today, thefamilykeeps 200 head of registered Santa Gertrudis and 150 commercial head.

The

Taliaferro'ssuc- cessful showingreputation has resulted in invitations to several distinguished Santa Gertrudis sales. Mr. Taliaferro soldone

cow

for$24,000

and

a bull for

$8,000 at last year's Western Heritage Sale, the premiere

show

for Santa Gertrudis breeders.

"Our

reputationisgoingtobebuilt

on

Chris and Sheri's showing record," he says."That'swherewe've gottenmostof ourresponse."

The

family

shows

cattle at tenshows peryear.

Chris serves as a director for the Santa Gertrudis

Youth

Association,an off-shoot of

SGBI

(Santa Gertrudis Breeders International).

He

hopestobe an auctioneer someday.

"One

of

my

friendsisanauctioneer.

We

wenttoone ofhis salesand Ijust picked it up from him," hesays. Butinthemeantime,he's

havingtoo

good

a time withthecattle,

FFA and managing

the ranch respon-

sibilities

when

needed.

When

Mr. Taliaferrois calledaway,

it's often to transport students to an

activity.

The

18-year-veteranagteacher believes "education is

more

than just going to class. It's learning a little bit

more

aboutlife." Withthatin mind,the instructortriestotakeas

many

students as possible to exhibits, seminars or conventions around the state without eating into class time. Fortunately the vo-ag

program

^issupportedbya school administration which believesthe

same

philosophy.

A

fellowagteacher, David Riggs (a former Scurry-Rosser

FFA

member)

playsakeyrole in thisbalancing act.

"Teaching is ajob, but it's also

my hobby and my

pastime," says Mr.

Taliaferro."Idon'tgohunting orfishing.

My

time's usually spent running to a livestock

show

or taking a student to pick up acalf. I loveit."

Thatattitude

—

^shared by bothfather and son

—

^is perhapsthemost tellingof

all "secrets" behind the duo's success.

Whether

it's in the classroom, in the showringorat

home,

eachroutine task

is yet another reminder of a shared

common

^beliefin

FFA,

vo-ag, respon- sibility

—

^{and teameffort.It's}alesson

we

allcould learnfrom. •••

39

Calving By Computer

It

looks

like

computers, along with everything

else

they can

do,

may

also

be able

to offer

a time capsule of valuable experience —

a boon

to

those aspiring

cattle

breeders too young

to

have accumulated

much of the magic

ingredient

for themselves.

By

Sally

Duncan

Ask

^{any successful farmer}

^what

^the

most

valuable tool for success has beenandhe or shewillprobablyanswer,

"experience."

That'sallverywellif

you

haveseveral years of it behind you. But for high school students seeking a careerinagri- culture, long years of experience can't just beconjuredup.

One

solution to this problem for futurecattlebreedershasbeen developed by

Dean

Frischknecht,

Oregon

State University Extension

Animal

Science Specialist. He'sfounda

way

to

cram

ten years of breeding experience into less thanthree months.

It'scalled the

Computer Cow Game.

Frischknecht conducts the cattle breedingshortcourse by correspondence, hopingtohelp both present andfuture cattle producers understand beefcattle

improvement

through breeding

and

record keeping programs.

The game

is

open to individual participants, and to high schoolandcollegeteams.

The computer

produces five genera- tions of simulated cattlein less than threemonths.

About

100herds ofsimu-

lated cattleare distributed to participants, with three to five completely different herds of 50

cows

and 5 bulls going to each school. Instructors assign several students toeach

cow

herd.

40

The

"cattle breeders" maintain their herd at 50 females by culling poor producing

cows and

replacing

them

withthe bestoftheheifers.

One

tofiveof the bulls produced within the herd are usedassires.

The

goalisto increase yearling weight.

The

printout

summary

of information provided bythe

computer

includes 205- day

weaning

weight, feedlot average daily gain for 160 days

and

yearling weight at 365 days.

A new

calf crop^is available for scrutinyaboutevery

two

or three weeks; participants have several daystostudytheeligiblebreeders before before

making

selections and matings for the next crop and returning their datatothe

computer

for processing.

Trina Nunez,

FFA member

from Eagle Point High School in southern Oregon,

was on

thewinninghigh school

team

for 1982.

"Icertainlylearned alotabout

how

to upgrade

cows

andbulls,"shesays,"even thoughit

was

frustratingnot being able tosee theanimals

we

weredealingwith."

Trinasaysthe

team would

oftentake an hour ofclass to discuss heritability, breeding values

and

othergeneticterms before

making management

decisions from the

computer

printout.

Mr.Frischknechtfeelsthedifferences

among

beefcattle,intermsofeconomic

value, are largely inherited.

"If a cattle producer systematically measures the differences, records the measurements

and

uses therecordsfor selection, he or she will be able to improvetheherdandbreedgenetically,"

he explains.

Trina,

who

ismajoringinagriculture at Linn Benton

Community

Collegein Albany,Oregon,believestheshortcourse

is

more

than just a game. She feels

computerization is the future direction of agriculture. "Although not

many

farmersareusingcomputersyetbecause of the high initialcost," she says, "the increased efficiency of their herd im- provement

program

willeventually

make computer

use a

good economic

invest- ment."

Trinaisnotfaroff.Today, eachof the major breed associations, along with Performance Registry International, alreadyoffertocattleproducers acentral data processingservicewhich computer-

izes their records and rates sires

and dams

withineachherdaccordingto the calvesproduced.Itlookslikecomputers, alongwith everythingelsetheycando,

may

justbe ableto offeratimecapsule of valuable experience

—

a

boon

tothose aspiring cattle breeders too

young

to have accumulated

much

of the magic ingredient forthemselves. •••

TheNational

FUTURE

FA

RMER

•

,~

if youid like to lea lie a "35 Kilo." That-

3ai