Field Day Turns 50: Highlighting Agriculture Education and Training

Field Day at UC Davis is turning 50 and this year it will bring an estimated 1,650 FFA and 4-H students to campus to participate in 20 contests showing off their agricultural knowledge and leadership skills. 

The annual event is a massive undertaking that brings together 600 student volunteers, coordinators, judges, advisors, faculty and others over one weekend to evaluate knowledge in a variety of topics from agricultural welding and farm management to livestock judging and veterinary sciences. 

“This could be a steppingstone, or this could be the beginning of somebody’s really amazing journey,” said Kathryn Teixeira, a Field Day contest advisor and assistant professor of teaching who was on a winning horse judging team at UC Davis 24 years ago. “I was fortunate to be on a very successful judging team and that catapulted me into a lot of really great opportunities that maybe would not have been there.”

A 50-year legacy 

The first Field Day at UC Davis was held in 1976 as a way to support agricultural education and provide a space for students to practice their knowledge. 

This year’s event, held March 6-7, also offers UC Davis a chance to show off campus, answer questions and meet prospective students, said Flora Jathanna, the activities and engagement coordinator for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. 

“We want students to feel a sense of accomplishment for learning these things and for being able to apply them successfully,”Jathanna said, “but also… show them a little snapshot of what their future could look like and what Davis can do for them to really expand on those skills.”

Davis student involvement

Undergraduates also participate as contest coordinators or volunteers, said Samantha Blunt, the Field Day student coordinator, who participated in the event as a high school student and brings that knowledge to the role. 

The roughly 50 contest coordinators, who must adhere to California Agricultural Teachers Association guidelines, enroll in a 2-credit class to learn how to put on a contest, from the curricula to ordering tables and making room reservations to other logistics. Volunteers help with test proctoring, leading groups, answering questions from contestants and anything else that is needed. 

“Visiting campus really opened my eyes to the opportunities here,” Blunt said. “We want students to enjoy their experience and be able to learn something at the end of the day.”

Focus on career and leadership

Field Day contests fall into two categories: leadership or career development. 

The leadership contests focus on public speaking, job interviews, parliamentary procedure and debate. The career contests include meat judging, floriculture, food science and crop judging. In poultry and livestock judging, contestants evaluate an animal in terms of balance, structure, muscling and other factors. 

Student scoring is matched to an evaluation from an industry or knowledgeable judge to see how they compare. Contestants are also judged on how well they explain their decisions and reasoning. Many contests simulate what would happen in a show ring or professional environment. 

FFA, formerly known as Future Farmers of America, students compete in multiple field days as part of state or national competitions. The event also serves as state championships for members of the youth development group 4-H who may go on to other competitions in Colorado, Kentucky and elsewhere. 

"We've got a lot of competitive teams on campus at all of our contests,” said Allen Pettey, an associate professor and Field Day faculty supervisor and coordinator. “We really try to provide fair and challenging contests for the contestants as they compete for state championships here or practice for a state contest later in the year.”

For many, Field Day is a labor of love.

 “Being part of UC Davis Field Day is really full circle to me and it’s full circle to a lot of our students as well,” Teixeira said. “And it really is a service, but also an act of love for us to give back to a program that helped raise us. I see what it’s done for my students. I know what it did for me.”