Zane Trace FFA Learns About Colorado Agriculture With In-Person Visit

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(Zane Trace HS) – Six Zane Trace FFA Chapter members traveled to Colorado in mid-January to experience agriculture in another part of the United States. Their trip began in Denver as the group visited the 118th National Western Stock Show. Here they saw many different cattle breeds on display including Galloway, Red Angus, and Simmental. After touring the stock show the students ended their first day with a hike up the Mt. Sanitas Trail in nearby Boulder before spending the night in Estes Park.

The next morning the group braved the snow and drove into Rocky Mountain National Park. They explored the trails around Bear Lake on snowshoes, which were needed due to over 3 feet of snow on the ground. During the hike, the group climbed to an elevation over 10,000 feet above sea level and saw amazing views of the cliffs and snow. On the way back down the mountain everyone was excited to see several herds of mule deer grazing along the road!

After their adventure in the National Park, the group traveled to the Maxwell Ranch, which is part of Colorado State University. At the ranch, they visited with Joel Vaad, the ranch manager, and his family. The Vaad family taught the students how they manage the 12,000-acre property and care for the herd of 300 commercial cows that call it home. At sunset, everyone braved the extreme winter weather and wind chills over 30 below zero to help feed nearly one ton of hay to the cattle. The students gained an appreciation for the size and scale of western cattle operations and the unique challenges they face such as low rainfall, expensive hay, mountain lions, rattlesnakes and wolves!

On their last day in Colorado, the students traveled to Boulder to learn the art of milling flour from heritage grains at Moxie Bread Company. The head miller, Kalyn, demonstrated the nearly 2-ton granite mill that is used to convert spelt, kamut, amaranth, and turkey red wheat into flour for customers. Moxie processes over 2,000 pounds of flour each week, 900 pounds of which they use in their own bakery.

After visiting the mill, students attended the National Western Stock Show once again and had the opportunity to watch the champion market hog drive and learn rodeo secrets from one of the bullfighters before the rodeo that evening.

The next morning the tired, but grateful students flew back to Ohio early in the morning, carrying with them memories, knowledge, and experiences that they could only have in Colorado.

In a related note, four members of the Zane Trace FFA Chapter competed in the Ohio FFA Food Science and Technology Career Development Event at The Ohio State University.

During the competition the team of Kailee Adkins, Camron Naumovski, Elise DePugh and Wyatt Vick answered questions about food safety, identified food equipment, evaluated food samples and worked together to create a new food product. Zane Trace placed 4th out of the 20 teams in the competition with Wyatt Vick placing first overall. Wyatt received a scholarship of $5,000 to The Ohio State University and the team will receive a banner to commemorate their accomplishment.