Youth learn agriculture skills and business savvy

GAINESVILLE – The Alachua County Youth Fair and Livestock Show kicked off last Thursday and concluded on Tuesday, March 11. Featuring a wide array of activities teaching youngsters about livestock and agriculture, the event drew in huge crowds throughout its six-day run.    

Cows, pigs, goats and other animals were paraded around the auction house, waiting to be sold off.

The fair was set up for different events to be scheduled on certain days. From morning to night, exhibitions, auctions and contests took place at the Alachua County Fairgrounds.

The youngsters attending the event generally came in two camps. Those involved in the local 4-H program, and those involved with the local Future Farmers of America, or the FFA.

The 4-H program’s division included various clubs composed of volunteers of different ages, up to the age of 19. Within the 4-H program, there were four categories which the fair’s attendees were classified into, including cloverbuds, juniors, intermediates and seniors.

The FFA division was more specific in terms of its qualifications to join, since it is a middle and high school affiliated program with an age limit of 18.

Sierra Holsbeke, a 17-year-old junior at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, has been an exhibitor ever since one of her friends introduced her to a goat that was being exhibited three years ago.

This year, she represented her club, Micanopy Friendship, in the 4-H program.

Raising livestock animals is hard work and takes a lot of time, she said.

“It’s a long-term investment,” Holsbeke said.

Holsbeke’s project consisted of auctioning off her 81-pound goat that she had taken care of since last September. The fair’s rules and regulations dictated that she had to keep up with record-keeping in terms of the goat’s weight, making sure it didn’t exceed the 110-pound limit. She had to be mindful to check on the goat regularly and feed it twice a day, every day. The fair rules also prohibit naming the goat, in order to avoid attachment.  

“It teaches responsibility and caretaker skills,” she said.

The auction drew one of the largest crowds at the event. As people flooded the area and bid on the livestock on display, the youth got to see the end result of raising an animal.

Chenoa Dixon has been involved with the Youth Fair and Livestock Show for 12 years, having been part of the executive board for six years. She has been president for the last two years now. She had been involved with the 4-H division from age 8 to 18. Dixon became so devoted to this organization that she became a volunteer after graduating high school.

She is in charge of finding sponsors and making sure the event runs smoothly. Like Holsbeke, she agrees that the fair teaches responsibility, but it also imparts business skills. She said the main goal of the show is educational.

The process of raising an animal takes about three to six months, so the youth has to learn to be patient in order to see their efforts pay off.

“The point is to show them the start and finish of the project they’re involved in,” she said.

With agriculture playing such a large part in the county’s economy, many local families like Dixon’s have grown accustomed to making this annual event a tradition. That is why she believes that this function will never die out.

“It becomes a generational thing,” she said. “They come back.”

#     #     #

Email dprizontcado@

alachuatoday.com