CPP Students to Star at LA County Fair

Huntley College of Agriculture students will have starring roles when the LA County Fair returns May 5-29.

Students will make presentations about the college’s livestock animals in the fair’s Big Red Barn, sharing everything about their characteristics, what they eat, and what Cal Poly Pomona students and faculty do with them.

The petting zoo in the Big Red Barn is most popular attraction at the fair, according to surveys, and it will feature about 150 animals, making it one of the largest petting zoos in the county. Nearly 50 animals – which include sheep, goats, and pigs – are slated to give birth during the fair, and the students will also talk about that.

“It’s a great way to show and tell what we as a college do and how our students learn about animals,” said Craig Walters, the AGRIscapes outreach director who oversees the college’s participation at the fair. “We hope that fairgoers find it informative and entertaining, and that some might want to come to Cal Poly Pomona to learn more.”

The Big Red Barn also will feature the “Storybook Farm” exhibit that shows the origins of famous nursery rhymes, when animals were a larger part of people’s daily lives.

In addition to providing all the workers, petting zoo animals and other livestock for the Big Red Barn, the college is continuing the expanded fair role that began last year.

Each department will have displays and demonstrations in one of the barns at the fair.

The college’s farm operations also will showcase the different areas on campus that it works and where produce goes after it is harvested: to the Farm Store, the Restaurant at Kellogg West, and campus dining services like Centerpointe or Fresh Escape, a farm-to-table dining outlet on campus.

Other college exhibits include one on Bugs and Bees and another on the “Discovery Farm” outreach activities at AGRIscapes, including the Pumpkin Fest and field trips by schoolchildren.

Students in the Ag Ambassadors club will staff a visitors booth to talk with fairgoers, including prospective students.

It's the second consecutive year that the fair is taking place in May. Organizers moved the event from its previous September dates to take advantage of cooler springtime weather.

In addition to the fairgoers, the fair is also hosting field trips from local schools on Fridays in May. The schoolchildren will see the petting zoo in the Big Red Barn and the other college exhibits.

For more information on the fair, including purchasing tickets, visit https://www.lacountyfair.com.