FFA Field Day helps attract high school students to Fresno State

Agriculture students from all over California competed in agricultural State Finals contests at the 76th annual Future Farmers of America (FFA) Field Day hosted by Fresno State.

Contests included having the best quality crops, cow judging, horse judging, soil quality and tractor safety. The event provides an opportunity for prospective high school students to show how savvy they are in their field of study, but it’s also an opportunity for Fresno State to showcase its agricultural programs.

“I was hoping just to come here to compete with my friends and my teammates, but also to get maybe a bit of a tour of the campus so I can see more of what it has to offer,” said Tyler Albright, a senior student from Buchach Colony High School in Atwater.

Students were also making use of Fresno State’s resources that are available to current students.

One of the contests in the agricultural mechanics category required the students to demonstrate how safely and effectively they could operate a tractor in six minutes, meaning they got hands-on with the University’s machinery.

Several of them have always been involved in agriculture since childhood. Anthony Zelis, a senior from Nipomo High School, said he’s no stranger when it comes to getting involved with agricultural mechanics.

“Basically my whole life,” Zelis said. “For farm power this is my fourth year, technically my third because there really wasn’t any during Covid. I’ve just been in agriculture long enough to drive tractors.”

Other students had the chance to see Fresno State’s cows up close at the dairy cattle judging contests.

Participants observed the cows to determine things such as the type of cattle.

Just as there were students coming from a farming background there were also those who were just beginning their adventure in the agriculture field.

This is the case for Andrew Chow, a junior from Highland High School in Bakersfield who has only been in agriculture for three years.

“I didn’t come from an agriculture background. I actually got put into an ag class my freshman year and overall I liked it and I kept on doing it,” Chow said.

Now he might even see Fresno State as a good fit for his college career.

“Fresno [State] is probably one of my top choices,” Chow added. “It’s either this or UC Davis, but I hope to go to Fresno after high school.”

While all the high school students were competing to win a contest, Fresno State’s agricultural programs also picked up a win with these FFA Field Day events as they are a way to display their reputation and attract in.

“It leaves a really good impression,” Albright said. “I don’t understand a lot of it but from the looks of it there’s a lot of machinery that I haven’t seen before that I have seen on dairies that I’ve visited before, and it’s interesting to see that at a college rather than just a commercial dairy.”

Fresno State hosts FFA Field Days three times a year, with this event being the third and final one.

People can follow Fresno State’s FFA Field Day account on Instagram for information on future events.