CASTLE ROCK — Rachel Serrell said raising cattle for the first time for the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo has taught her about responsibility.
“With my sheep, I just feed them twice a day. But with my cattle, I feed them twice a day, I wash them once a day and then, at the fair … you have to blow-dry their hair, so it’s just having that more responsibility and more of a commitment versus sheep,” said Serrell, 15, who lives in Castle Rock.
Serrell is one of 12 4-H and Future Farmers of America youth raising their animals at the Colorado Agricultural Leadership Foundation‘s Lowell Ranch in Castle Rock this year.
The kids live in places lacking the acreage necessary to raise larger animals. Cattle are being hosted at Lowell Ranch for the first time this year.
“It teaches them the goals of agriculture, but it also teaches them how to take care of and be responsible for another living being. It teaches a lot of lessons we farmers learn on an everyday basis,” said Brooke Fox, president and CEO of the foundation. Fox grew up on a farm and participated in 4-H in Douglas County.
The mission of the program is to connect people to agriculture and remind them of its importance even as commercial agriculture has dissipated in the county over the last few decades.
Larry Carnahan said when he helped found the foundation, one of the objectives was to be able to host 4-H and FFA kids with their projects at Lowell Ranch, which the group has been doing since 2002. Carnahan will be honored by the foundation Aug. 1 as the 2014 Legend of Agriculture.
Hunter Keyser, 17, from Castle Rock, is an FFA teen who is showing her cattle for the first time at this year’s fair. She said she has wants to go into agriculture in college. She doesn’t live on enough land for cattle and has her animal at Lowell Ranch.
“If I hadn’t entered FFA, I would’ve done this,” she said. “I’ve been having a lot of fun with the steer.”
Serrell, who is president of the longtime 4-H club the Oakland OKs with 80 members, said she’s seen more kids get into things like backyard chickens, but she also has seen a lot of growth in nonlivestock projects like shooting sports.
Brenda Kwang, CSU Extension 4-H Agent for Douglas County, said shooting sports is the fastest-growing nonlivestock project in the county.
“Thee kids love having that opportunity to have instant gratification,” Kwang said. “They get to shoot and see how they did at that point. Parents want their kids to learn how to shoot safely, and 4-H is an opportunity to do that, as well.”
Kwang said there will be 453 4-H kids showing at this year’s fair out of an estimated 575in the county. About 150-200 of them are involved in shooting sports. Kwang said cake decorating is also growing, with about 50 youth involved.
“I think 4-H has a great future and it’s going to be different from the past because we have less and less agriculture,” Carnahan said. “4-H is adapting and making it more available for different projects.”
Clayton Woullard: 303-954-2953, cwoullard@denverpost.com or twitter.com/yhclayton
Douglas county fair
When: Aug. 7-10
Where: Douglas County Fairgrounds, 500 Fairgrounds Road, Castle Rock
More information: douglas countyfairandrodeo.com.
