By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Moapa Valley FFA students recently shared their work and their projects with three visiting chapters from Utah. FFA members from Mountain Crest, Ridgeline, and Cache High Schools in Logan, Utah, stopped in at the MVHS Ag Farm on their larger educational tour of the southwest.
The group of 81 students, plus advisers and chaperones, were headed to the Tulare World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA, and made several stops along the way to tour agricultural areas of interest. They contacted Denise O’Toole, MVHS ag adviser; and her husband Kevin, Ag Farm Manager; to ask if their students could tour the MVHS facility and see a working ag farm in action. The O’Toole’s welcomed the students and even offered to feed them dinner along with members of the local FFA.
The visiting students arrived on Tuesday evening, Feb. 13. They were organized into smaller groups and taken on tours of the farm by FFA members and officers. They toured the shade house where vegetables are grown, the outdoor gardens, the cattle operation, the straw bale house, and the hydroponic greenhouse.
The touring students marveled over the setup. More than one student was heard expressing admiration, tinged with a little envy, especially over the greenhouse.
“This is a really cool facility and it’s really neat what they are doing here,” said Chet Mayo, a senior from Mountain Crest High School in Logan. “I wish we had a farm like this.”
Taylor Jorgensen, Mountain Crest FFA Vice-President added, “This really is an amazing facility and I’m jealous. I wish Mountain Crest had a setup this good. It’s a really great experience for us to see how other chapters and schools run their Ag programs. Because when we see stuff we like, we can take it home and incorporate it into our program to make it even better.”
Different students were impressed with different aspects of the farm. Virgil Parker, a sophomore at Ridgeline High School said, “I like how the cows are set up. I think I was most impressed, though, with the fact that it is all built and run by the students and the students are really involved.”
Hunter Schirado, a freshman at Ridgeline added, “These experiences are so great because they expose us to a lot of different ag experiences. I really want to go into an ag-related field when I grow up so it’s especially valuable to me.”
Cache High School FFA Adviser Zane Christensen explained why he feels trips like this provide a great opportunity for students. “ I can’t teach them all the stuff they learn on this trip, he said. “Touring a facility and listening and learning from experts in the field can teach them in one day what it would take me two months to teach them in class.”
In addition to the ag farm and the Tulare Expo, the group also planned on touring a BLM horse and burro facility, Hearst Ranch, an elephant seal facility, a grass fed beef operation, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and a specialty oriental vegetable garden.
The evening in Moapa Valley wasn’t all about touring and learning, though. The MVHS chapter hosted the other three and treated them to a dinner together. All four chapters intermingled and took time to visit with each other, share stories, and find similar interests before the Logan students headed to Las Vegas for the night.
The dinner, which was provided by the farm and prepared by the O’Toole’s, the students, and Glen and Cheryl Rawson, featured Indian tacos as a main course. Many Utah kids tasted pomegranate syrup for the first time when they poured it over leftover fry bread for dessert.
The multi-chapter event turned out to be a great opportunity for all who attended. Mountain Crest FFA adviser Megan Haslam summed up the evening. “It’s great to get the students out of the classroom and into the real world as much as possible to expose them to things outside Cache Valley,” she said.
