Central School on the north side of Milton held its first agriculture festival, what officials hope to be an annual event. To Central teacher, and FFA (Future Farmers of America) organizer and advisor Mitch Lambeth’s surprise, roughly 300 youth attended the fair for a day of horse cutting and barrel racing demonstration and hands-on livestock education.
According to Lambeth, the fair was more than entertainment. He said, “When I first talked to administration, I presented standards that would be covered. It was about three quarters of my standards.” Some of those included were leadership and public presentation as well as animal health and well being.
Lambeth said communication skills would directly translate into talking to buyers at the upcoming Santa Rosa County Fair and Youth Livestock Show.
Notable companies attended the fair as well such as Coastal Machinery and John Deere. Lambeth said Coastal sponsored a UTV for the school and John Deere always helps with an annual tractor swap. “Each year we swap out tractors. We get a new tractor each year for a good, discounted price.”
Wes Rutherford, father of Leah and Zachary who are both livestock presenters said, “Up to this year there has been some interest in animals in Santa RosaCounty. Zach started showing in 7th grade. The last three years it’s really grown. Mitch Lambeth, he has worked very hard getting this organization, this FFA club where it's at right now… I graduated from Central. We had an awesome FFA. Then, we were more horticulture land judging, not a lot of animals but now animal science is taking over. I'm very excited.”
Zachary Rutherford described an ideal show cow, one with a wide back end and hips for easier breeding, square shoulders, and fluffy hair. His nine-year-old sister, Leah, educated fair goers on her goat, Cinnamon Swirl, going over breeds, body parts, diseases, and more.
Lambeth took the idea of field trips for educational purposes and made the school the destination.
“So many times kids don’t' get to go to rodeos. In most cases, kids grow up with a love of animals.” He said the county youth interest in livestock has grown over the last few years.
“Santa Rosa County kids grew from two exhibitors to 80-100.” He said 30 pigs being shown come from Central, 15 to 20 heifers, and a few steers. “The kids have taken an interest, raising some (animals) on campus…One thing I’m excited about is seeing kids take ownership. That’s what makes me proud.”
The future looks good for another Central School Agriculture Fair, according to Lambeth. He said, “A lot of people out there recognize these kids will be at the fair. It’s good publicity leading to the fair. It helps with buyers, (the youth) meeting some of the public, Friday. It gave a lot of the kids an edge to approach buyers.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Central School Ag Fair draws hundreds