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The Davie County FFA received first place for its fair booth at the Dixie Classic Fair.

The booth was judged on creativity, captivity, educational elements, and design and student involvement.  The theme for this year was “Fairing Well in Agriculture.” FFA members gave viewers a glimpse of NC top agriculture products. This included soybeans, chickens, turkeys, pigs, and corn. They also included the amount of money each commodity contributed to the economy.

The No. 1 industry in North Carolina is agriculture.

FFA members also participated in the junior ewe and junior market lamb shows. Weeks before the show students learned about showmanship and taught their lambs to lead.

Alexis Cutshaw said: “Teaching lambs takes determination and patience.” In preparation for the fair students sheared and washed their lambs. They also learned to evaluate the lambs based on muscling and conformation.

Senior Teairah Dillion said: “Lambs can be frustrating at times. I learned that it takes persistence to grow, especially when it is something you had never done before. Mr. (Jesse) Ledbetter always said to ‘hang in there’.”

All students walked away with ribbons and prizes.

The highlight was a third place market lamb and two second place ewe lambs.

Looking back on the experience, Bailey Dyson said: “The ribbons were great but the experience was awesome.”

Audrey Miller said: “The challenge made it fun.”

Karsyn Whitaker said: “I felt like all our hard work payed off.”

In addition to showing students made educational videos that demonstrated skills, terminology, and technique.

The lambs were returned to Lazy 5 ranch where they will become mothers to future show lambs.

Samantha Esparza said: “I did not care for the sheep in the beginning. After working with the sheep it was hard to say good bye. I enjoyed the experience and look forward to more opportunities to show.”

“Working with the sheep was a lot of fun and gave me the opportunity to try something I had never done before,” said Naomi Hellard. “I encourage students to take part in agriculture at Davie because there are many opportunities that you cannot find anywhere else.”

“This is an exciting time at Davie High School,” said Ledbetter, the FFA advisor.  “Students are engaged and excited about learning.

“We are in the process of building a barn to house animals on campus and have raised nearly half of the funds needed to complete the project..” If interested, contact Ledbetter at ledbetterj@davie.k12.nc.us.   

The FFA mission is to promote premier leadership, personal growth, and career success.