Don't get too excited, we're not having a pig on the farm
(someday, yes). No, what we are doing is sponsoring a pig!
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| Coming Soon (kind of) |
One of our dear friends has a son who has been telling his parents he would like to be a farmer and/or do something related to farming, so this year, he signed up for the FFA. For those that aren't familiar with that acronym, it is for an organization called Future Farmers of America. It has been around since 1928, teaching young people leadership and personal growth through the use of agricultural education.
Students can raise livestock, chickens, cows, pigs and more. They have to do this starting from buying them as small animals at auction, all the way through to selling them back at auction six months later. The kids have to do everything in between, from buying the food, to taking care of the animals including veterinary issues, keeping them groomed etc, and hopefully raising them well enough to collect a top dollar bid at an auction in about six months. During this time, they keep track of all expenses and costs associated with the process so that they can learn the business side of things.
Of course, buying the pig and related supplies requires a large investment up front, so usually, the students look for sponsors. 2nd Man and I talked about it and knew immediately that we should be the sponsors. It will be great to help this awesome young man (we'll call him "T") and nurture his interest in farming. In this day and age of iPods and smartphones and Facebook and Twitter, it's nice to see a young person wanting to do something related to agriculture.
So here in about a week, we'll be heading down to the local livestock sale with T and his family so that he can buy the piglet that we will be sponsoring. I told him I'd like to have pictures once a week, as well as the stats (weight, etc) so that we can keep track of the pig's progress here on the blog. We'll also have "visitation rights", LOL, and that will be fun since we'll learn a bit about what is involved in raising livestock also, all courtesy of T and the FFA!
The motto of the FFA is:
Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve
That's certainly a motto that we could all live by.
Oh, the FFA is a wonderful group. He will learn a lot. All the FFA people I knew in school were really good kids who grew up to be fine young adults. What a nice thing you are doing, I know that's not cheap and I bet his parents were thrilled.
ReplyDeleteYes, I told him Mom that I always remember when I was in school that FFA had some really cool people in it. Seemed like they were all very hard workers and very pleasant to be around. Yes, they were/are thrilled. We just felt it was the right thing to do. Thanks for stopping by!
Deletei am absolutely and positively thrilled that you and 2nd Man are doing this! this is wonderful for everyone involved - including the pig!!! i will look forward to pig updates and pics!!!
ReplyDeleteit is awesome to help a young person out and he will benefit greatly from this!!! isn't it interesting that jam and i are going to a benefit dance in our sister community for a young girl who is taking pre-vet and in order to earn some serious extra credits, she is off to South Africa for 3 months to volunteer in a clinic!!!! i think that's awesome for her.
and i think that what you guys are doing for T is just as awesome! your friend,
kymber
Definitely pig updates on a regular basis. Might bore some people but it's a blog and it will be fun to track the progress and ups and downs he encounters (hopefully more ups!). I hope that if he is somehow sparked into doing something great in the agriculture business somehow, we can say we had a tiny tiny part in the nudge that direction, ha.
DeleteKeep us posted too via your blog about the girl in the community, what an adventure that would be!!
That is very generous of you, our daughter was in FFA and we had to look to businesses to sponsor her animals. How neat to do that for them. Can't wait to watch the pig progress.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog by the way I like that you touch on all sorts of topics and not just one thing. I'm not sure how to use google to join things so I'll just reply as anonymous and type my name.
Katherine
Aww, thank you first of all for commenting and the kind words about the blog. You know, when I started this blog, I hoped it would become close to what it is now. It's not 100% there but I'm settling into a routine and other than the garden plans I had wished for that just didn't happen this season, everything is coming along nicely. It's a journey and the whole purpose was to share each little step, and sometimes missteps, along the way.
DeleteI am glad we were able to help him. I didn't think about the fact that more often it's a business sponsoring something like that. He (she?) will definitely be updated here. I need to have a special day of the week for pig updates, ha. Pig Monday? Pig Tuesday? LOL!
WELL! I have been called many things....bahahaha
ReplyDeleteAwesome way to get familiar with your future porcine product and support a good cause!
Ha, you are too funny!!!
DeleteYes, I figure we'll learn a bit as well, seeing how much care is involved, not to mention hopefully not getting "too attached" ha.
And supporting this young man's wish is definitely a good cause!
What a great thing to do. And, you get to learn at the same time. Good for you guys!
ReplyDeleteawwww
DeleteI got all excited at the possible prospect of you having a porker at that lovely farm!!
well its a start!!!!!
Thank you! Yes fingers crossed we learn something valuable as well, ha. Thanks again!! Check back in for pig updates.
DeleteSomeday John! We're not there full time to be able to leave livestock alone but we will be eventually. Chicken's will be first on the list and then a pig or two. We'll see!! :-)
DeleteHave you read E.B. White's "Charlotte's Web"?!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, not in awhile but that's a great suggestion. I should add that to my farm reading list. With no TV out there, a nice book collection will be a necessity and I'd like some farm theme books. Thanks for the reminder!!
DeleteWhat a wonderful thing to do for "T" and his family. I hope this goes really well for all of you. I look forward to seeing photos of the little piggy and all his progress. And yes, that is definitely a motto we can all live by.
ReplyDeleteWe were more than happy to do it. Will definitely keep you updated. And yes, I love that motto, I think it would be great on a sign at the farm! :-)
DeleteThanks, as always, for stopping by!
How wonderful! Anything we can do to nurture interest in farming/gardening is important. These kids spend WAY too much time buried in their phones....
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yes, it's refreshing to see. I hope something is sparked and he pursues this farther after high school. Welcome back by the way!!
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