It’s always a good time in the COA

I "CatPaw" UK Ag!

April 18, 2013 marked a very eventful day in the UK College of Agriculture, as not one, but two incredible events took place, extending from Commonwealth stadium to the E.S. Goodbarn, and even across Cooper to the Seay Auditorium in Ag. North. UK Field Day was first to the plate, including hundreds of agriculturally-minded students in FFA and/or 4H from all over the state that were prepped and anxious to gain the competitive edge over the other contestants. Events included livestock judging, weed and seed identification, tractor driving, auctioneering, and much more. Between the competitions, the high school students enjoyed some pretty tasty burgers and were able to learn about the numerous opportunities available to them in the College of Agriculture if, or hopefully when, they become freshmen at UK. The event was a huge success for both the college and the visiting schools.

Next up to bat was the annual Ag. Bash, sponsored by the Ag. Student Council and the UK SGA. The event was open to any and all students in the college, and the first 100 students that made a donation to the Ronald McDonald House received a pretty swanky lime green UK Ag. T-shirt. Not to mention, food was in full array, including donations from Chipotle, Qdoba, Wal-Mart, Subway, Cane’s, and the infamous Ale-8. The ginormous steak burrito I enjoyed sure did hit the spot! Also, the entertainment for the event was incredible, featuring the Brown Brothers Band, who sure knew how to get your feet tappin’ and your hands clappin’. It was such a fun event, and the company wasn’t too shabby, either!  Here's a video of the last song as some Ag Student Council members celebrated!

One of the best parts of the College of Agriculture is that days like this are not a rarity. In fact, it’s more of a rarity when there isn’t a campus event going on during the week. This makes for one of the coolest atmospheres on the campus, where every student is passionate about their futures and look forward to networking and taking leadership roles on a weekly basis, not just every now and then. Being a sophomore, I now realize why I have had such a successful past two years here at UK--it’s all about the people I’m constantly surrounded by and the opportunities presented to me by the college. I never thought in a hundred years that I would be giving tours to prospective students or representing the college as a senator for student government. I am beyond amazed where the College of Agriculture has taken me thus far, and how many awesome opportunities are available to us if we merely open our eyes to them. 

What gets me the most excited is realizing that I still have two whole years to be an ag. student, and there’s no limit to what I can accomplish during the time.

Alex is a sophomore majoring in Agricultural Biotechnology and is also pre-med.  He is from Eddyville, Kentucky.

Banner Chasing …..

Spring is in the air.  Snowstorms have ceased and have been replaced by thunderstorms and showers and warmer temps  For people in the livestock world, it is prime time for buying and selling lambs, pigs, goats, and cattle. It's the time of the year when every weekend you are either going to sales or going to different farms to look at animals for show seasons. For me, this is the busiest time of the year and I know that I’m not the only one. Everyone is trying to find the “best” lamb or pig to be his or her Grand Champion. We are all “banner chasing” with the goal of being on top when it’s all said and done.

Growing up showing livestock made this an every year activity that we would partake in when March rolled around. We would start looking at sales online, calling different breeders to see if we could come to their farm, and searching for different sales that we could go to over the weekends. This is my favorite part of the year because everyone is traveling all over the place on the weekends and analyzing so many different animals. You also get to see your friends while you are at the different sales and make connections with breeders while at their farms. You spend so much time with most of the people you see at sales over the summer and into the fall that they become your second family or as we like to call it our “show family”.

Showing is a big part of my life and it is something that I love to do and look forward to every summer. My parents have instilled a passion for showing in me that has made me the person that I am today. I started when I was 7 years old and wouldn’t change it for anything. I had two market hogs and I was super excited to show them. That year we only went to three different shows and they were all in Delaware. As I started to get older I yearned to go to more sales and places to look at different animals and my parents agreed to take me. I am now about to start the last year of my junior show career. It is the beginning of the end for me. This year I wish to go out with a bang and try to get some good animals. I have picked out my lambs and pigs and now the only thing left to do is work with them and make sure that they are in a good environment and have a good feeding program. It calls for a lot of work but this is what I am passionate about and what I want to excel in.

The years and time that I have put into this I wouldn’t change a thing. I have made so many friends and have had so many different opportunities in showing livestock. I now consider these people as my family more then just friends because they are who I have grown up with and have had so many times. The years of traveling and making new friends have been some of the best memories I could ask for and will last a lifetime!  So, as the rest of the Big Blue Nation chases banner #9 for our basketball team, I plan to spend my summer chasing my own banner.....

Kaitlin is a sophomore from Wilmington, Delaware. 

Been there, showed that

 Every year since I can remember, my family and I have loaded up the truck and trailer and headed out to Louisville, Kentucky for the North American Livestock Exposition. This is one of the greatest weeks for any livestock kid. They get to see all their friends in one place, show their stock that they have worked so hard on, and get a once in a life time experience, as the quality of the animals is the best of the best. It was in 1971 when the idea of having a major livestock show in Kentucky started. This was brought up by the former Kentucky governor Wendell H. Ford and in November 17-23, 1974 the first show started. From this year on the Kentucky Exposition Center has been filled with all different types of livestock in the month of November. In the first show there were beef cattle, sheep, and pigs. Now it has grown to beef cattle, pigs, sheep, llamas, horses, goats, and dairy. There have been some big changes in the last 38 years with the different shows and how the quality of the livestock has changed. 

The UK Livestock Judging Team, from left to right: Shelby Clifford, Kaitlin Klair, Josh Duckworth, Caroline Applegate, & Victoria Hamilton.

 

            Over the past couple of years, making the trip out to Louisville was a normal routine for my family and I. Every November, my mom would send in letters to all of our teachers to get us excused absences since our schools did not have Agriculture programs. We would collect all our homework and head out the next morning. You could barely sleep the night before because you were so excited about the trip. Who wouldn’t be excited about it? You get to miss school, show your animals, and see all your friends! That sounds like a good time to me! Showing livestock is a big thing in my family because my mom and dad use to show when they were young and that is how they met. We look at it as spending time together doing something that we all enjoy. I wish that all families don’t have one activity that they can all do together and enjoy as much as livestock families do. We do get into our fair share of arguments while traveling, but in the end it all seems to work out for the best. 

            This past year was the first time in a while that I was not able to show at North American and I was pretty upset about it. Even so, I had another opportunity that was given to me and that was to be on the University of Kentucky Livestock Judging team. This was something that I thought I would never be a part of and I would have to say it was pretty awesome! During the year we have gone to some pretty amazing place, including Illinois, Kansas City, Pennsylvania, and then final contest at the North American.  Along the way, we stopped at many different producer’s farms and looked at their livestock and talked to them about different things going on in the industries. We also experienced local culture when we traveled through food and shopping! My most memorable moment of this experience would be the van rides. We were in the van for long and short periods of time. Every ride was different from what we talked about or just the things we saw and experienced in the van. We had some of the funniest conversations. This experience was one that I enjoyed and glad that I took. 

I know that I missed one year of showing at the North American, but I gained so much more by getting the experience to judge and travel to all the different places that we did. 

As an Ambassador for the College of Agriculture I encourage everyone to get INVOLVED in school! Judging is an awesome way to travel around to different states and meet new people, but it is also a time commitment and a lot of work. This is only a small comparison to the amount of fun and memories that we have as a team! If you don’t want to get try judging, UK and the College of Agriculture has many different clubs that you are able to get involved in!

 Kailtin is a junior Community & Leadership Development major from Wilmington, Delaware.  She has been involved with the UK Livestock Judging Team, UK Block & Bridle, serves as a UK Ag Ambassador, and was a past Delaware State 4-H Vice-President.