"Oink!"

Alexus Galassi,16, Vice Presidentof Fillmore FFA is pictured with her heifer Talula and the baby Kaliapi who was born at the fair this past week.

Marc Zavala, 17, Fillmore FFA, stands with “Zeus” a pig who won Reserve Grand Champion at the fair.

Micah Chumley, 16, Fillmore FFA, stands with “Kevin” replacement heifer who also won Reserve Grand Champion at the Ventura County Fair. Several Fillmore kids participated in this year’s auction.

Story and photos by Bob Crum

Little Bo Peep, Zeus and Kevin, outstanding specimens all, were bestowed top honors at the Ventura County Fair. Accordingly, their caretakers – Macie, Micah and Marc – relished reaping the rewards for their time and efforts.
With dozens of excited people in attendance... Talula was also rewarded with baby Kaliapi. To just see Kaliapi is to instantly love her! But I digress.

Macie Wokal, 14, Fillmore FFA, raised a replacement heifer named Little Bo Peep. However, weighing in at a hefty 1,082 pounds, there's very little that's little about Little Bo Peep. Her status is even bigger than life. Little Bo Peep was awarded the FFA Grand Champion Replacement Heifer award. Sweet!

Macie is no stranger to the award circle. Though her entry last year didn't win an award, her entry in 2009 was awarded Grand Champion Replacement Heifer. Not an easy achievement considering that the odds might not be much better than winning the lottery every other year.

What was it like raising Little Bo Peep? “When I first saw her”, said Macie, “she was crazy and later, when I would walk her, she made dinosaur noises as if she was making fun of a cow. That was pretty funny”, Macie said. Proof that one can never predict what a cow will say.

What was the biggest problem raising Little Bo Peep? “Trying to get her halter on” Macie immediately replied. “She was stubborn and wouldn't cooperate very often so it was a lot of work.” OK... but once the halter was in place, how was she to take for a walk? “Crazy”, Macie said. Why? “Because”, said Macie, “she was barely halter trained when I got her so she was on the wild side... I guess you can say.” Somehow Macie tamed wild and crazy Little Bo Peep because the heifer appeared to be on her best behavior at the Fair.

Based on Little Bo Peep's enormous size, what did her diet consist of I asked. “She eats a bag a day of grains and alfalfa and a bag costs about $14.00.” Oh my! Perhaps taking Little Bo Peep to a Chick-fil-A restaurant would be cheaper?

At the auction, the high bidder won Little Bo Peep for $3,400. Plans for the heifer include munching scrumptious Piru pasture grass and motherhood.

And Macie's money? “It goes into my savings account for college”, said Macie. Upon graduating high school, Macie is planning to attend California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Having been raised in a farming/ranching lifestyle... Macie's aspirations are to become an agriculture teacher. No doubt Macie will excel!

Micah Chumley, 16, Fillmore FFA, also raised a superb replacement heifer. So superb is Micah's heifer, Kevin, she won FFA Reserve Grand Champion. Umm... Kevin... a boys name? “I named her Kevin because of the movie Up”, explained Micah... adding... “the flightless bird was named Kevin who was thought to be a boy but turned out to be a girl... oh Kevin's a girl!... so that kind of stuck for my heifer.” Makes perfect sense.

Kevin is not Micah's first heifer. He raised a heifer four years ago. Last year he entered a steer that was not bestowed an award. So... this year he went back to raising a heifer and was rewarded with a championship.

Was it fun raising Kevin? “The most fun”, said Micah, “was training Kevin not to run away from me. She was afraid of me for the first couple of months and then she suddenly began loving me after that.” Interesting! And the biggest problem raising Kevin? “Her being a girl,” Micah promptly replied. OK... why was that a problem? “Because”, Micah explained, “she goes through cycles and sometimes she's really mean at times... other times she's really nice... so that was kind of a problem.” Excuse me but do you mean heifers have hormonal issues? I asked. “Yes,” said Micah, the heifer expert, with a big grin. You're kidding me I said. “No, I'm not kidding”, he insisted. The downside of Kevin's moodiness? “When Kevin is in a nasty mood... she's really mean... she won't walk... she doesn't want to do anything but lay down and do nothing! And when she's in a good mood? “When she's in a good mood she'll want to walk with me... spend time with me... do everything with me. But there's no way to know her mood until I approach her to put on the halter. On her bad day, she may try to run away... try to kick you... try to run you into the fences... not fun at all,” Micah said. I didn't ask if he ever considered raising chickens.

The high bidder who will soon be dealing with moody Kevin paid the tidy sum of $2,400... which will go into Micah's college fund. After high school, Micah's plans are to attend Eternity Bible College with aspirations of becoming a youth pastor.

Marc Zavala, 17, Fillmore FFA, raised and entered Zeus, named after the Greek god. As such, Zeus, weighing in at a hefty 276 pounds, must have divine genes because he won the FFA Reserve Grand Champion award in the market swine category.

As I was speaking with Marc after the auction, Zeus was sound asleep... projecting the image that pigs just lay around, eat, get fatter and fatter until one day they up and fly away. Seems that raising a pig must be pretty easy but what about Zeus? Any problems raising Zeus I asked? “Well”, said Marc, “he was getting too heavy too fast... gaining weight off air... I couldn't really hold him from gaining too much weight too fast. And it was really tough to keep his body shape and have him gain weight only at a steady but slow rate.” Not good... given that pigs have a weight limit. Marc's solution? “I bought a special holding feed by Morman Feed but they stopped making it in the middle of the season”, explained Mark. “It was called a lean stabilizer which pretty much did what it said... made him stay in shape and gain weight in tiny, tiny increments at a time,” Marc said. Ultimately, effective feed substitutes and lots of walking saved the day... and the championship!

To further illustrate the dilemma, Zeus weighed a swank 100 pounds when Marc got him. Only three and half months later Zeus weighed 276 pounds! Whoa! Obviously Zeus... ahem... ate like a pig!

Besides the problems... was it fun raising Zeus? “The most fun was walking him... I mean he's just a big ole giant pig (Marc doesn't exaggerate) and he obeyed my every command which is pretty neat,” said Marc. Hmmm. I tried giving Zeus several commands but was totally ignored convincing me that Zeus is... ready?.. pigheaded! (Was that a moan I just heard?)

Alexus Galassi, 16, Fillmore FFA, raised and entered a 1,227 pound steer for auction but didn't win an award. However, she also brought her pregnant heifer, Talula, that gave birth to a bouncing baby calf at the Fair! How's that for excitement? The birth of Kaliapi was at 7:10 PM on Thursday 8/11/11.

Alexus explains: “The birth was a little bit complicated. The calf was actually upside down and they had to twist her around and pull her out... so it was a little complicating... so we had to have assistance and the vet came. But other than that, my heifer was calm and the calf is perfectly fine and everybody is good.” Can you sense Alexus' excitement?

How did you know this calving was going to happen? With a gleam in her eyes... Alexus explains: “Well, they're pregnant for nine months so you kind of estimate when they're at the bull and stuff. Actually, she's two weeks late which can happen... then they can be early or they can be late... and this is her first calf. She went into labor two days ago and they can be in labor for about three days. Once labor begins you have to watch her all the time for signs of contractions... you have to definitely have your eye on them all the time when it comes to the closer days of calving. I witnessed the entire birth and it was the most amazing feeling. I've seen cattle calve before but it's never been my own animal. I was excited, and nervous and crying all at the same time... it was the most amazing feeling and I can't wait to do it again in nine months.” Go through it again I asked? “Yes” Alexus immediately said... I will definitely go through it again with her. She's a great heifer so I'm really excited to bred her again after this calf.”

With Alexus... there's no time to grow mushrooms in cow pies. Besides keeping busy raising and breeding heifers and steer simultaneously... she also raises pygmy goats having four in the small animal area. Wait... there's more. Besides busy raising and caretaking all these animals, Alexus said: I'm vice-president of the Fillmore FFA chapter, vice-president of the FFA Ventura section at the Fair and vice president of Bardsdale 4H where I show my pygmy goats. And I'm a member of the Junior Fair Board.” That's a lot on your plate I remarked. “It is”, Alexus repeated, “but I really enjoy being busy and love all the experiences of everything I'm involved in. I sincerely hope that when Alexus has a moment of free time she gets some sleep!

Because one naturally wonders what it costs to sustain a steer and a 1,200 pound heifer I asked. “You spend roughly around $4,000 to $5,000 dollars a year”, Alexus said. “The breeding project adds up too. I've invested probably around $6,000 on my heifer alone the two years that I've had her.” Wow I said, that's a good chunk of money. “Yea that's a nice chunk of money,” Alexus repeated, adding, “but through the auction, all the buyers are so supportive of me... helping me when they know they're supporting what I'm doing. So I've never had to go into my own pocket or my parents pocket... the money for my projects are from the auction proceeds the year before." Imagine that!

It's should be obvious raising an animal for auction is a valuable learning experience. Not only does it require unwavering dedication... the responsibilities of feeding and exercising the animal and all the other caretaking necessities... these young people are also learning about budgeting and all the other financial aspects of raising an animal. This training... along with the experiences... is invaluable as they progress along the timeline of life into adulthood.

(Note: You may have noticed that I refrain from calling these young people the inappropriate term “kids”. While covering this fantastic event for over 10 years, I've come to realize that though these people are indeed young, almost all of them exhibit a level of maturity that some adults I know don't have. Thus, I admire them as the great young people they are... not as 'kids'.)

Of course not every animal can or will be the Grand Champion. Nevertheless, every youngster that persevered and brought a market animal to the auction is a grandstand winner and deserves applause. Every community should be exceedingly proud of these young people.

Now a moment to acknowledge a vitally important element of the program... the buyers... the people that usually seem to go unrecognized. Without this supportive group of selfless benefactors, the youth livestock auction would not exist. Spend but a moment at the auction and it becomes obvious that the amount that most buyers bid far exceeds market rates because they know that the money is earmarked for college and/or for next year's project. As an example of bidding... though extreme and not verified at press time... it's reported that a group of bidders won a 130 pound lamb with a winning bid of $200 a pound. Ahem... that's $26,000!!! Proof that it's not about simply buying meat. It's all about rewards and supporting the future aspirations of these wondrous young people. It should also be noted that many buyers donate their purchase to Food Share.

Of course, no story about the FFA and 4H programs leading to the Fair's youth livestock auction would be complete without acknowledging the untiring contributions of all the teachers and parents. It's more than about raising an animal... it's about raising upstanding, industrious and productive young boys and girls. To that end... the value of the training, guidance and support is impossible to calculate. Three cheers for all you all do.

Congratulations to the award-winning champions. You have done your organization, your teachers, your parents and your community proud. Keep up the great work!