FFA students prepare animals for Sonoma County Fair

Students from Sonoma Valley High School’s Agriculture Department are excited to be showing market animals at the Sonoma County Fair again this year. The 28 students have been working hard for months raising their animals and preparing for the fair. They will be showing four steer, nine lambs, 23 hogs and entering them into the live auction. We spoke with three students and ag teacher Lori Bisordi about the experience.

This is Bisordi’s first year teaching at SVHS, although she and fellow ag teacher Sarah Richardson both arrived in time to help students prepare for the fair last year. The previous year students missed out on going to the fair and Future Farmers of America (FFA) events because of COVID restrictions. Ag students automatically become FFA members when they enter the program.

Bisordi has really enjoyed her first year teaching at SVHS and had high praise for her students. “It’s been an honor and a privilege to work with them and to see their passion for agriculture through their eyes,” she said.

The SVHS Ag Department has the benefit of a farm at the school where many of the animals are raised. This is especially beneficial for those students who don’t have the space to keep animals at their homes. Bisordi said the students and their families work hard on the farm and the local community pitches in.

“The Rotary Club of Sonoma has been phenomenal at helping us maintain our barns and keep them clean,” Bisordi said.

Bisordi praised the SVHS staff and the community for their commitment to the ag program and the FFA students. “Students have had tremendous support from the community,” Bisordi said. “Local breeders that have bred sheep, swine and steers have come out to help the kids, guiding them in what to feed their animals, how they should be working with their animals and preparing for fair.”

Maya Suazo said that as she’s gone through the program at SVHS she has kept her animals on the school farm because she lives in a neighborhood rather than on a farm. “I did raise chickens at home,” she said.

She liked working on the school farm and the friendships she found there. “There’s a lot of teamwork there because you have to communicate with members and you also have a great time on top of it,” she said. “It’s pretty fun.”

Suazo said she’s learned a lot of skills while working on the school farm, like time management. “Because you have to spend time with your animal and then you also have to clean up after your animal, walking your animal,” she said. “And then sometimes there’s FFA events out there and I’ve been an officer for two years, so definitely I’ve spent a lot of time out there.”

Suazo is 18, just graduated from SVHS and is going to start at Chico State in the fall. She plans to study ag business. She started out as a 4-H member and then went into the SVHS Agriculture Department and FFA. She did 4-H competitions and then began competing at the fair when she became an ag student. She’s done the fair all through high school, except in 2020.

“I raised two goats my freshman year and then my sophomore year was kind of like I was robbed of a year of going to fair,” Suazo said. That year she incubated chicken eggs at home. “That’s where my chickens came from,” she said. Last year she purchased a breeding ewe and it birthed two males which she sold.

This year her breeding ewe birthed two females. “I will be showing the two girls for the breeding portion because I didn’t get to do that last year,” she said. “They didn’t have that show last year because of COVID.”

She also bought a male this year for a 4-H project, raising it as a market lamb for the fair.

She will be showing and selling the market lamb and plans on putting the money she makes from selling it toward college.

Suazo said that she’s looking forward to being back at the fair and spending time with her friends. She’s also looking forward to meeting new FFA and 4-H members.

Corrine Gilman loves the show aspect of the fair. “You’ve been busy training your animals and working with them and loving them so much to get them to that point where you’re showing them in a ring, there’s just a great feeling with that,” she said. “It’s just the best part of having an animal.”

Gilman is 16 and is going into her senior year at SVHS. She started out in 4-H at 9 years old, showing market lambs. Her mom, Debbie Gilman, is the local 4-H leader for market lambs. Gilman will be showing a market lamb for a 4-H project this year at the fair.

Once she got into high school, Gilman started raising and showing steers. Although she has a location where she can keep her animals, she said that when she was a freshman she kept her steer at the school farm. Gilman has also studied floral design and the school farm’s garden has been beneficial for that. “It’s really nice because you’re able to grow flowers,” she said. “It’s a nice property that we have and it’s a really nice community there.”

This year at the fair, Gilman described three shows that she’ll go through with her steer. “The first show is our market show, which decides where we place in the auction,” she said. “The second one is showmanship, where instead of the judge basing it on how the steer looks, it’s on how the showman works with the steer. Then there’s another show called ‘born and bred’ and that one is for steers born in Sonoma County.”

Part of the money Gilman earns from selling her market animals goes back into buying animals for the next year. And what she doesn’t use for that goes into her college fund. “My dream is to get into UC Davis and to study being a large-animal vet,” Gilman said. “I’ve dreamed of being a vet since I was little.”

Jack McMahon thinks he might like to go into veterinary medicine or ag business. He’s 15 and is entering his sophomore year at SVHS. He’s been in 4-H for five years. “I showed a pig last year,” he said. “I raised a pig the year before but due to COVID there was no fair.”

All of McMahon’s animals have been kept at the school farm. “We live in a neighborhood, so it’s a great opportunity to have,” he said. “It’s a benefit because they have a lot of the expensive equipment that we use for the animals. I’ve also learned a lot about gardening and viticulture there.”

This year McMahon will be showing a steer and a pig. “They’ll both be sold at the auction,” he said. The money he earns will go toward buying the next animal, his college fund and a car or truck.

McMahon will compete in showmanship, market and born-and-bred competitions. “I’m excited to show my steer,” he said. “I’ve had him for nine months and so it’s been a long investment, not only money but time. I’m excited to see how he does.”