William H. Turner Technical Arts High School - Agriscience

Agriscience

The Agriscience Academy, or Ag for short, encourages students to play a role in society that deals with Agriculture such as livestock and horticulture. In the Animal Science and Services program, students handle livestock such as cattle, in order to better understand the Meat industry as well as the veterinary field of large animals. Animals included pigs, sheep, steers (a castrated bull calf) and breeding cattle. Students also attend local fairs like the Miami-Dade County Fair and the State Fair in Tampa. In order for this to be possible, the students have to join FFA or Future Farmers of America. FFA allow students to learn leadership skills and parliament procedures. Tractor driving and Speech is also part of the FFA. This part of the academy, according to students, is one of the best, the smelliest, and the most profitable.

Students spend about 3 to 10 months (including weekends, holidays, and no-school days) taking care of several SAE projects. The students exercise, bathe, and feed the animals. They also clean the animals' pens. After that, the students take the animals to local fairs. There, the students exhibit the animals to their potential using various equipments to handle the animals. Some competitions included Showmanship, Fitting and Grooming, and Market. The FFA students compete with each other and other FFA or 4H students of other agricultural schools in Florida, depending on the location of the fair. As soon as the fairs are over, the students must leave their animals because they raised the animals for meat; the animals are then sent to slaughter. Here are more information about the animals the students nurture:

Pigs Usually one of the first animals, along with lambs, that the students raise in their first year. Swine are very intelligent and very excited animals. They can range from 180 pounds to 250 pounds. The male pigs come castrated when the students purchases their hogs. Castrated male pigs are called barrows. The breed normally used are Yorkshire crosses and Hampshire crosses.

Lambs Usually one of the first animals, along with pigs, that students raise as their first SAE project. Lambs are the most vulnerable projects in the Ag. Academy. They are easily killed by dogs. Students learn to castrate male lambs, which are called wethers. They also learn to sheer the sheep, taking the wool off the animal with a pair of clippers.

Steers A castrated bull calf that ranges from the ages of 8 months to 2 years. These animals are usually given to the juniors and seniors of the program. Students can have up to two of these animals. Steers range from 850 pounds to 1250 pounds or higher. Students learn to "halterbreak" or having the animal accustom to a halter and the students themselves. Steers range in different personalities. Some like to ram and kick any student that comes near; others are either gentle or timid but easy to work with. The steers are the most costly animals. They usually cost between $500 to $1,000. Students receive their steers from Florida ranches that sell steers.

The academy also offers a veterinary assisting course. In this course, the students raise poultry, goats, rabbits, and guinea pigs. Unlike the animal science animals, these animals are not sold for market so the students that buy animals can keep them if they choose after the fair. The students compete every year at the Miami-Dade Fair in showmanship, breed i.d., fitting and grooming, and the different shows(where the animal gets a 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and the best get special awards like best of breed and best in show).