A few common farm animals consist of sheep, pigs, horses, and chickens. Some people tend to look over goats. What they don’t know is that goats are very beneficial to the farm owner, they can provide meat, dairy products, soap, and many other items. Some dairy breeds that are common in Nevada are lamanchas, nubians, alpines, toggenburgs, and  Nigerian dwarf goats. There are multiple meat breeds as well but the most common breeds in Nevada are the boer and kiko goats.
Goats are very susceptible to diseases because they spread very easily among the herd. Caseous lymphadenitis, or also known as CL, is a chronic disease that is extremely contagious to goats. A characterized sign of this disease is abscess formations internal and external by the goat’s lymph nodes. Once the ground is exposed to the disease the bacteria remains in the ground for an extremely long time, the bacteria has genetically adapted to harsh conditions. Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis, also known as CAE, is now considered one of the greatest threats to all breeds of goats in the U.S., especially dairy goats. CAE is transmitted during the neonatal period from an infected mother to the kid through nursing natural colostrum. It is possible that CAE is also transmitted from goat to goat through saliva, nasal secretions, urine, and feces. Coccidiosis is a disease that results from overcrowding, dirty and/or wet pens, and unclean water. Coccidiosis is highly contagious and spreads through a herd rapidly. A sure sign of Coccidiosis is diarrhea. (tennesseemeatgoats.com). Keratoconjunctivitis, also known as pink eye, is inflammation inside of the eyelid. This is mainly caused by the microorganisms Mycoplasma conjunctivae and Chlamydia. These are not the same microorganisms that occur in the cattle version of pink eye, so the vaccines for both species are very different. This infection is highly contagious through contact. Some major signs of pink eye are cloudiness and pink-gray coloring inside the eyelid. Diseases of all types can be preventable by clean pen hygiene and responsible vaccinations.
The diet that goats have to have is quite complex compared to other animals. All goats need certain minerals like copper, calcium, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, iodine, manganese, and sodium. Some ways goats can get these minerals is from a copper bolus, a mineral block, or loose minerals. Most people believe goats can chew through anything and that is true. The best way to protect your plants and other yard decorations from being destroyed by your goats is to fence it off with chicken wire or some sore of wire fencing.
In conclusion, all this effort and time that goes into goats always can make a great experience for the long run.
Katie Cullen

How Plant Based Lifestyles Affect Agriculture

Approximately 2-6% of US adults identify as vegan or vegetarian. In just the past

three years alone there has been a 600% increase in people identifying as vegan. Like it or not, this trend of plant based eating is here to stay and along with is comes more food products geared towards those that don’t eat meat. The need for these vegan or vegetarian snacks has increased nearly 40% in just the past few years. But how is the increased production of these meat and dairy substitutes affecting our agriculture industry?

It is estimated that about $25 billion will be made off of meat and dairy substitutes over the next two years. While this may sound like quite a substantial amount of money it actually has very little economical effect on the meat and dairy industries. But as the demand for these products increases, a more noticeable financial deficit in the livestock industry may began to arise. This shortfall may eventually lead to financial problems for those who depend on the livestock industry just to make ends meet. Many farmers and CEOs of the big meat and dairy industries are protesting the rise of these vegan and vegetarian food industries.

But as our modern society began to make a shift to more plant based lifestyles, it is clear that this may be our only option. By the year 2050 we would not be able to meat the nations demand for meat even if all of our cropland was devoted to meat production. These plant based alternatives are also more ethnically and economically feasible. Ethical beliefs about the meat and dairy industries are one of the main reasons people become vegan or vegetarian. Moving towards a plant based diet as a nation will appease many peoples beliefs that the livestock industries are cruel and disgusting. These meat and dairy alternatives are also more economically feasible because it takes far less amounts of water and space to yield a higher amount of crop, depending on farming practices of course.

We may not be able to predict exactly how big this meat alternative industry may go but many believe it has a very bright future. Many big names have invested into these alternative start up companies such as, Bill Gates, who invested into Impossible Foods Inc., creator of the impossible burger. A shift towards a more or eventually completely plant based lifestyle is on the rise and it appears to have no intention of slowing down anytime soon.

Floral Careers

The Floral industry is typically known for just flowers, but even though the majority of the flower industry deals with flowers, there are other key factors in this industry. There is many different jobs incorporated with floral. One of the most common floral careers is the typical floral Designer, this is what I’m going to be talking about.  

What do floral Designers Do?

Floral Designers are the ones who usually do the most work when it comes to the creation of some of your favorite flower arrangements and bouquets. The floral designers are the ones who purchase the amount of flowers they need in other the meet the needs of their customers. They usually also determine what arrangements and bouquets the customer would enjoy and meet their specific needs and wants in the arrangements. The floral designers are also the ones that communicate with the customers the most, they show the customer different flowers, fillers, and such items that would work well within the customer’s budget, They don’t always deal with floral customers face to face though. The floral designers answers phone calls, take the orders, and even wrap the arrangements so they could be delivered and arrived to the customer safely and all together still.

Work environment and the educational requirements for being a Floral Designer

Floral designers usually work in retail businesses like in different stores, many can be found such as in the typical flower shops and in grocery stores that have their own section for flowers that can be put out and sold to the public. To be a Floral designer it does not take very much of an education, most or all people that become a floral designer have at least a high school diploma and have some sort of skill with dealing with flowers and customers but if not, many learn within just a few months

working at the floral shop.

Written by Destiny Hernandez

2018-2019 Capitol FFA POA

Hey everyone! Below is our POA which is our chapter's program of activities. With this document you will basically get the run down of our chapter! You'll be able to check out our committees and their members as well as our goals for this year! Hope you guys enjoy it! 

Katie Cullen, Vice president

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dyROgzfGMUnlWzrk8MFwh8ANKo10dSdX/view?usp=sharing

Drought

Have you ever noticed that Nevada’s water supply is much different from many other states? This is because Nevada is going through dry spells called droughts and it is effecting so many people in so many ways.

What is Drought?

Drought is a long period of low rainfall in a region. This typically results in lower water levels in our homes, lakes, and rivers. These dry periods can last from a few weeks to a few years. In Las Vegas, for example, the longest drought lasted 116 days with zero rainfall. This can affect many ranchers and farmers and can even affect office workers and students sitting at their desks right now.

What are the Positive Effects of Drought?

Although many people believe that there are only negative effects of drought, there are many positive effects of drought as well. Drought allows wetlands to be able to sustain more animals and makes it a stronger environment. When we are going through a drought, wetlands have time to dry up and prepare for another wet spell.  

What are the Negative Effects of Drought?

One of the most negative effects of drought is the increased threat of wildfires. When Nevada is dry, wildfires are more dangerous due to the fact that the brush and trees are more dry and catch fire easily. Another negative effect is the cost. Although Nevada does many things in order to save water such as watering schedules, we also have to spend thousands of dollars to fix the damages caused by drought. In 2015, Nevada and California spent almost $2.7 billion on damages.

Stay tuned for my next blog post: Ways to reduce the effects of Drought!

Written by: Baylee Hale

Diversity in Ag

When you hear the word agriculture (Ag) what do you think? Do you think of the cowboys and farmers who live out in Texas with their long horn cows? This can be the perception of many people in today's society. However there is a lot more to Agriculture than this. According to National Geographic there is a lot more jobs within Agriculture than just being a farmer. How many of you like your honey? What about what you feed your pet? Also how many of you like going to Disneyland and seeing the beautiful scenery? These things and many other things are done at the hand of someone who is part of agriculture. There is so much more to agriculture than what meets the eye. Your local restaurants are part of Agriculture. The diversity within Ag is huge. There is so much going on within the world of agriculturists. As a high school student there are times I don't really see the diversity within this community. Sometimes I feel as though people often don't see the variety of what this industry really is.  There are so many amazing things that can come from all the different jobs in Ag. Sadly farmers only represent one percent of all the US population. But it's not always about farmers in this industry there is a lot more that needs to be talked about within this industry.

Hope You Are Ready to Hear Him HOOT

I can't believe we have already been in school seven weeks! I know I am not the only one who misses SUMMER but I am so excited to see what this year has in store for our program.

For those of you who are new to Carson High School, welcome to the Agriculture Science Program. My name is Mr. Mann, and I am starting my 6th year at Carson High School. I grew up in Smith Valley where I showed livestock in 4-H and FFA. During high school, I was greatly involved in FFA where I had multiple Supervised Agriculture Experiences from showing steers to teaching agriculture at the local Boys and Girls Club. I also competed in multiple Career Development Events which included Parliamentary Procedures, Job Interview, Dairy Foods, Land Judging, Creed, Rituals, and  Poultry Evaluation.

I have enjoyed being the Agriculture Science Teacher and Capitol FFA Advisor these last few years. My family has been a great supporter of me and in a way, all of you. My wife Kali Mann was in FFA growing up so she knows all that an effective agriculture science program entails. Kali and I have two kids (Charles who is 4 and Theo who is almost a year and half) who are future Senators and Capitol FFA Members.

This year I will be teaching Agriculture Leadership, Agriculture Science 1, Agriculture Science 2, Horticulture, Plant Science, Floriculture, Veterinary Science, and Greenhouse Management. I am also teaching a CTE Exploratory course where every 12 weeks I will teach a new group of students the basics of agriculture. I have a lot of great things planned for these courses, and I hope that you enjoy them.

FFA is an integral part of agriculture education. Every student who is enrolled in an agriculture class is automatically in FFA. This student organization is a professional organization where students can participate in leadership conferences  as well as participate in events that emulate agriculture related careers. These events help students prepare for the workforce and have a grasp on the skills needed for their future profession.

This year, your chapter officer team has many excited activities planned and I can't wait to see our chapter to continue to grow. Some of their goals are to be more active in our community as well as be advocates for agriculture. I am so proud of them and can't wait to see all of you be an instrumental part of these goals being accomplished.

I hope that you all enjoy this school year!

Mr. Mann