One of the very first photos ever taken at Connors was a picture of the campus farm in 1912. Since the early 1900s many programs have come and gone, but the farm has always been a permanent fixture. With two farms, 1700 acres, and 350 animals the care and preparation is not a typical nine to five job. Given that animals dont take the day off, our staff members work 365 days a year and up to 12 hour shifts. Blake Nelson has been the farm manager for the past 8 years. A small group of farm staff are responsible for the day to day operations and the professional exhibition and marketing of our cattle. Recently, the Connors State College Farm Show Team packed up all their hard work and traveled south to Fort Worth to compete against 50 exhibitors in the National Santa Gertrudis show. Director of Farm Operations, Blake Nelson said, The national show gives our team the opportunity to exhibit the hard work that is done daily. Our team was up against other ranchers from across the United States and our team walked away with a top honor known as the Herdsman Award. CSC was selected by the Superintendent of the Southwest Livestock Exhibition. Teams are judged based on the cleanness and professionalism of their show area. This was the first time that CSC has earned this award. The team was made up of staff members, Dale Pitchford and Roger Martin. Agriculture students, Josh Walton and Clay Carlson joined the staff members at this competition. We believe it is important to surround our students with staff and faculty who lead by example. Our farm staff exemplifies the qualities that are needed to be successful in the farming and showing industry and we want our students to leave here with those same qualities. Connors State College currently has over 130 students studying agriculture from majors such as Agriculture Communication to Equine Science. Success did not stop at the Herdsman Award. Other show highlights included a Star Five Category class winner by our Heifer, Olivia and a couple 2nd place finishes.
This story was featured in the February edition of the Connors Connection.
