UCD Ag & Environmental Science Field Day

Every winter quarter, the College of Ag & Environmental Sciences hosts their annual Field Day.

• 2008 Friday February 29 and Saturday March 1
  

• 2007 Friday and Saturday March 2nd & 3rd (Aggie article)
  

• 2006 Friday and Saturday March 3rd & 4th

Field Day is when a few thousand California high school FFA students,and a few 4-H kids, and a few dozen Nevada FFA students descend upon the campus for two days of competition. They get the opportunity to compete in everything from computers to flower arranging, vet tools to welding and livestock judging. You know when the day comes because of the complete invasion of the bookstore and Freeborn by hideous blue corduroy jackets and grumpy ag teachers. Also, the Silo stays open this weekend to feed the lost, tired, and hungry high schoolers.

Davis actually hosts the state finals for public speaking contests (which compete primarily during the fall/winter) on Friday, and the first Judging and Career Development (spring) contests of the season on Saturday. Anyone who's anyone comes to Davis to scope out the teams they will be against at finals. Even the FFA State Officers show up to hand out awards!

UCD students run the contests pretty much on their own, which may be why they are known as the most poorly run contests of the circuit, but they try to improve upon their individual areas each year. They have to arrange to get flowers, cattle, judges, animal carcasses, bug samples, dairy samples, engines, and horses. They have to dig really really big holes for Land Judging, set up science displays from Agriscience Fair, and make and grade tests for almost every contest. They will have to grade quickly, as tests and results are turned in to get scores tabulated in time for the contest critiques immediately afterward and the award ceremony a few hours later.

It's harder for the UCD coordinators since they have the earliest contest on the circuit, and therefore the least amount of time to prepare for it. As most of the contests start around 8 am on Saturday, it makes for a very long day for the coordinators. Nonetheless, they try to put on the best competition they can to put up a good face for UC Davis, since this is the only time a lot of these prospective students see the campus.

Contest areas include:

• Agricultural Mechanics
  

• Agricultural Pest Control
  

• Agricultural Sales
  

• Agriscience Fair
  

• Agronomy
  

• Best Informed Greenhand
  

• Computer Applications
  

• Creed **
  

• 4-H Dairy Cattle Judging
  

• FFA Dairy Cattle Judging
  

• Farm Business Management
  

• Farm Power
  

• Farm Records
  

• Floriculture
  

• Forestry
  

• Grapevine Judging
  

• Job Interview **
  

• Land
  

• 4-H Light Horse Judging
  

• FFA Light Horse Judging
  

• 4-H Livestock Judging
  

• FFA Livestock Judging
  

• Meat Judging
  

• Milk Quality & Dairy Foods
  

• Ornamental Horticulture
  

• Parliamentary Procedure **
  

• Poultry Judging
  

• Small Engines
  

• Specialty Animal Judging
  

• Vegetable Crop Judging

** = Public Speaking Contest

And yes, Milk Quality and Dairy Foods is basically just like that scene in Napoleon Dynamite.

Interested in coordinating a contest? Sign up for AED 190. That's all the class does, and its P/NP. Or just contact the head coordinator to volunteer the day of the contest. Extra hands are always appreciated. Free units or volunteer hours and free meals the day of the contests!

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