KCFB's annual Teacher's Ag Seminar hosted 44
teachers and students from all over the United States (including Hawaii).
Because almost everyone has forgotten that food and fiber doesn't just sprout
on grocery store shelves, KCFB developed the program to educate the educators.
The three day seminar features guest speakers, field trips,
lots of food and one-on-one visits with farmers and ranchers that allow the
seminar guests an opportunity to get their hands dirty (sometimes literally)
and experience ag first-hand.
Greg Palla of Greg Palla Farms talked about cotton. Steve
Maniaca of Sunridge Nurseries talked about grapes, Kern County's number one
crop. He described the process of creating a vineyard: Discing the ground,
leveling the ground, discing again, installing water pipes and trellises. Then
the farmer has to plant, irrigate, prune, apply pesticides and herbicides.
Palla told the audience, "California is the toughest
state for regulations. I spend 20 percent of my time dealing with
regulations."
Pam Romance talked about honey and bee keeping. She told the
teachers it is vitally important that their students learn math and economics.
"Students must be able to add up numbers and understand Profit and Loss
reports," she said. "They must learn how to fill out forms, read
maps, how to do a simple bill.
"Economy is a huge factor in conducting a
business," she said. Right now honey prices are at an all-time high,
paying $1.50 a pound. It costs about 45 cents a pound of honey to keep bees.
Bees can produce 100-200 pounds of honey per hive.
Ralph teVelde of teVelde Dairy came to talk to the seminar
for the first time. Temperatures were 10 degrees over normal and humidity was
far over normal during the seminar. "Forty percent humidity is devastating
to us," he said.
Ed Needham of Paramount Citrus told the class about citrus
production. There are about 280,000 acres of citrus in California, while Spain
has 300,000 acres in Mandarin Orange production alone, he said. Citrus is
harvested throughout the year. He went on to say that the biggest cause of tree
death is over-watering.
Rob Baker of Paramount Farms and Debi Twisselman talked about
nuts and cattle ranching, respectively. The seminar visited the Western
Stockmans' Market for a tour and lunch. They also toured the Primex Farms
Pistachio Processing facility.
On the second day the North High FFA provided breakfast
before a field trip to the Bolthouse Farms carrot processing plant. Dairy Maids
provided a box lunch. Beth Brookhart of the Kern County Water Agency made a
presentation, as did Ed Davis of S&E Organic Farms and Richard Andrews who
talked about Global Positioning in ag.
That evening the KC Cattlewomen, Brookside Market, YF&R
and Hay Insurance sponsored a BBQ social where the class members had a chance
to meet their hosts for the one-on-one trips the next day.
Teacher Judi Eastburn herded students Matthew Broniszewski,
Lashana Crump and Marcus Gonzalez through the morning adventures. Tim and Kate
Hunter with Dick Hay and his nephew Nick showed off their ranch. Large animal
veterinarian Paul Ansolabehere demonstrated a number of veterinarian procedures
used on a cattle ranch. Goliath (the horse) patiently put up with the
greenhorns as they rode a horse for the first time, although he kicked up his
heels and ran off with Judi in the saddle.
Ansolabehere showed the now-famous pregnancy test for cows,
which involves an arm-length surgical glove, lubricant and an unmentionable
part of the animal. The tester fits their arm inside the animal's rectum and
can feel if the cow is pregnant. Sometimes there's a "natural
lubricant," as Judi found out, much to her dismay.
As with most visitors to Kern County ag sites, the students
were awed by the sheer size of things here. The Hay Ranch contains about 10,000
acres, a number that had the kids' heads spinning.
After the tour, Kate set lunch for the group. "That lady
can cook!" Marcus said during his report. Matthew was still trying to
figure out how to send Philly Cheese sandwiches to his hosts when the group
left for home.
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