For many students, the school year begins on the first day of school, things like getting back into the habit of sleeping early and waking up early. However for senior FFA student, Izabella Morales, getting up early and going to school is just another item to add to her routine of raising a cow.
Why did you get into FFA, and how long have you been a part of FFA?
I am a 4-year member in the program! My favorite part of being a part of FFA is raising my heifer and being a part of the horse judging team.
Why did you decide to raise an animal, specifically, a heifer (a female cow), and what is her name?
I chose to raise a cow because my family has always had cattle and I had a bottle cattle calf named Maurice a few years prior. Her name is Moodana, like the singer Madonna.
How has your life changed since you began raising the heifer?
It became super busy! Moodana eats twice a day so I have to wake up much earlier in order to feed her before school and then stay there about an hour or so after school to feed and work with her. Cattle are very habitual creatures so you do have to try your best to be there on time everyday and to try and stick with a routine.
What are some of the goals that you placed when raising Moodana?
The main goal for myself as well as everyone who wants to raise livestock is to help the animal look its best and make sure it will excel in the show ring.
How and what is the process of getting into raising livestock?
The process of getting into raising livestock isn’t very difficult. All it is completing paperwork, getting it notarized and paying park fees to the correct barn. The most difficult thing of the process is finding the animal you want that’s in your budget. Depending on the animal type and the bloodlines of it, animals can become very expensive.
What are competitions like and what are some qualities that the judges are expecting/looking for?
Competitions are super fun! They are super long but they are really enjoyable once you get the hang of things. I like to get there a few hours earlier to check in, get moodana ready, and for us to both relax before we get into the show ring.
When it comes to showing, judges are looking for different things. If you compete in showmanship judges want to see how you minimize your animal’s weaknesses and how you maximize their strengths.
For the breed classes, it is slightly opinionated since different judges like different things. This also depends on the breed and species for an animal. I compete in the ABC commercial heifer class so the judges will be looking for something completely different than what my friend competing in the American steer class is showing.
How many competitions have you won/participated in with moodana?
I have participated in 12 competitions around the district and placed in the top three positions 5 different times.
What is the easiest and hardest part of raising a heifer?
Raising a cow is definitely not easy but the “easiest part” has to be working her hair because is a slicked heifer, meaning that she isn’t fluffy. Her routine only takes me about 30-45 minutes to do. Definitely the feeding, there is so much that goes to feeding show cattle. Each cow has a different feed plan and different feeds do different things. My heifer’s feed plan is not the same as the other cattle in the barn and all of her supplements do different things.
What are some tips you could give for people who are interested in raising animals?
Research! Do as much research as you can before you get the animal and talk to people who have raised the same animal as you before. There are sources online and people in the barn who have done this that are more than willing to help you! Most important tip of all though is to have fun. You only have a certain amount of time with this animal so I recommend making the absolute most of it while you can.
Any other comments you would like to talk about your experiences as a livestock raiser that has affected your day to day life?
I’ve been involved in agriculture and ranching since I was little so it doesn’t really affect my life that much because I’ve been doing it for so long. I love agriculture and it’s beneficial to everyone, especially the people involved. There’s a lot of life skills that you get out of it such as discipline, hard work, and resilience. These skills are extremely important in this industry because a lot of things can happen. You could have a hard year with your animals or your crops so you need to be resilient in order to keep pushing through. You need discipline and hard work in order to keep everything running. You can’t just be lazy with everything or else you’ll fail, especially with a ranch.
In addition to skills, there’s also a lot of fun things you can experience in agriculture that you can’t experience in any other industry. Seeing the live birth of a calf is one. Seeing it in person is so much cooler than just seeing it happen in vet shows on National Geographic.
