CALF_News_February_March_2020

25 CALF News • February | March 2020 • www.calfnews.net “I am very excited to show her what we do to see if there is anything that sparks her interest. We hope that something we show her gets her excited about learning at college,” Ross adds.“It’s experiences like this that help someone understand what the job will really look like after school.” This Meat and Greet project has also opened the eyes of Madison Crider, an eighth grader from Eaton, Colo., for a potential career. Crider also had an expe- rience with 4Rivers, communicating back and forth with Ross about raising lambs. “I have really enjoyed this experience emailing with Hannah, learning things about each other and talking about the progress of my livestock,” Crider says. “I know the importance of raising and feeding quality animals for meat, so I would love to possibly go into our family meat packing business.” Hasbrouck asserts that this whole experience is teaching kids how to inter- act with people in the business world, a great skill for them to have. Williams would agree after his communication with Hasbrouck. “I have wanted to major in agribusi- ness and start a farm/ranch, which is still the career that I would like to go into,” Williams says.“But by talking to more people about ranching, I have found that it would be good for me to take some animal science classes in order to gain more knowledge on the anatomy and physiology of animals.” Connecting at the show ring The culmination of the Meat and Greet project came together at NWSS in January, when the partners watched the youth participants in a “ring-side” experience for their respective species. While this ends the terms of the spon- sored experience, the hope is that this is just the beginning of a relationship between the partner and youth. “Since Meat and Greet in November, exhibitors have been communicating with their experienced buyers, and we are gearing up to host the experience buyers on the days the market animals are exhibited at the National Western Stock Show,” says Don Thorn, executive direc- tor of the Colorado FFA Foundation. “Ultimately, we want to help young people create relationships with people they may never have gotten a chance to create a relationship with,” Thorn explains.“Because the partner and youth worked together and communicated for a couple months before NWSS, the rela- tionships start to run deeper.” “Our team attended the shows for these experiences throughout the NWSS,” Ross says.“We loved seeing the excitement build throughout the day. Getting to see these kids show a project that they have worked on all year is just cool to be a part of. Their passion for their animal really shines through. At the end of the day, showing at NWSS is a huge accomplishment either way. They are showing against the best of the best throughout the country!” Empowering future ag leaders Building deeper relationships and understanding about agriculture, rural and urban alike, is the standard for why Meat and Greet was created. Plans are already being made for the fourth annual event in the coming year. “The Meat and Greet was a great way to connect with people outside of agri- culture and showed me how to use those skills in the future with my career in ag communications,”Wiechman says. “I realized that in communicating with people outside of the agriculture industry, they are very interested in learning about my 4-H project,” Crider says.“They find it fascinating how much work it takes to prepare my animals for a show, and I love sharing my stories.” “Participating in the Meat and Greet has been an amazing experience for me,” Williams says.“Talking with people who aren't connected to agriculture is differ- ent but it is good to be able to talk with them and get familiar where meats come from.” Ross adds that supporting a cause financially rarely gives them the oppor- tunity to establish relationships with students, but Meat and Greet has, and even more so, allowed them to mentor the students. “Our goal with participating in this program has been to establish a deeper connection with students,” Ross adds. “Ultimately we want to help students find their passions in agriculture, and 4Rivers has many ways for them to explore different skills. These students are such hard workers and have an incredible spirit, it is fun to be a small part of their journey to becoming our ag leaders one day!” Editor’s Note: This is the third and final article in the series on the Colo- rado FFA Foundation’s Meat and Greet event.  FAR LEFT: Cody McArthur, 4Rivers Equipment (left) stands next to Sara Wiechman (right). 4Rivers partnered with Sara in the Meat and Greet experience with her pig, Mr. Frederickson. ” LEFT: Madison Crider and her lamb, Hot Mess, with Hannah Ross from 4Rivers Equipment, who won the experience with Madison.