Getting to Know You
 Name
 Birthdate
 Favorite Book
 Favorite Movie
 Favorite Cartoon Character
 Favorite Farm Animal
 Favorite Animal
 Parent’s Occupation
 Why did you take Intro to Agriculture?
 What do you hope to learn?
Syllabus
 Upon the completion of this course, students will be
able to:
 Identify the major livestock types and breeds
 Be able to define common animal/livestock terms
 Know basic FFA history
 Be able to recite at least three paragraphs of the FFA
Creed
 Understand how an FFA Chapter meeting is run
 Know the offices and duties of FFA officers
 Be able to draw the FFA emblem
 Be able to successfully define the five parts of the FFA
emblem.
 Have a basic understanding of Parliamentary Procedure
 Be able to write up a main motion
 Participate in a mock Parliamentary Procedure Contest
 Have a basic understanding of food safety procedures
 Participate in a milk and cheese tasting exercise
 Have a basic understanding of animal breeding
 Know the parts of a plant
 Be able to accurately complete simple measurements
 Be able to draw a room according to a set scale
 Be able to ID common tools
 Be able to complete a simple construction project
 Demonstrate reading comprehension and be able to form
informative opinions
 Be able to successfully demonstrate thought out opinions on
various agriculture issues
 Be able to complete work within a set schedule.
General Classroom Rules 2015-16
 RESPECT…Yourself, others, the classroom/shop and the
teacher.
 Do not be disruptive in the classroom/shop. (If I am
talking, you are NOT!)
 Have your binder, paper and writing utensil EVERYDAY
for class.
 Classroom/shop must be clean before you leave
regardless of the bell.
 Stay on task and choose to use your time wisely! (This will
minimize homework)
 NO swearing
 NO hats in class (NO EXCEPTIONS!)
 Cell phones MUST be put away during class. There will be times
I allow you to have it out, but only when I say.
 First offense and you will lose your phone for the class
period
 Second offense will result in loss of phone and write up
 Third offense will result in loss of phone to front office
 iPads will only be used in class during assignments and with
permission.
 Participation is a must. Everyone has a voice and all WILL be
respected.
 Accept the consequences. I would like this class to
be a lot of hands-on working in class time. This is
possible only if people cooperate. If you make a
bad decision, accept the consequences and move on.
If you make good decisions, we will have a lot of fun
doing projects in this class.
Classroom Requirements
 A three-ring notebook is required for this course. Students need to have
dividers labeled “Notes, Journals, Tests/Quizzes. Folders and spiral
notebooks are NOT acceptable.
 Notebooks must be organized in chronological order and will be graded on
neatness and completeness. Everything done in class MUST be in the
binder Syllabus General Classroom Rules and Classroom Rules and
Responsibilities MUST be first pages of notebook.
 Bring Binder to each class
 This notebook will be graded each month. (Possible easy 20 points)
 Dailey there will be questions on the board. These are to be answered
when you arrive in class.
 These questions will be short answer
 They will often be review questions
 Answers will be gone over in class
 This will be part of your notebook grade
 There will be a seating chart for each class.
Assignment
Rules
 Most assignments can be finished in class if you use your
time wisely.
 If you miss a class, you have 2 days to make up the
assignment.
 It is your responsibility to get your missed notes and
assignments.
 If you do not turn in your work on time you will receive
an missing (M) in the gradebook until it is turned in.
 You have until the end of each quarter to turn in all
work.
 If work is not turned in by end of quarter the
incomplete will become a fail grade.
 No assignments from previous quarters will be accepted
in the following quarter.
 A test or quiz receiving less than 65% can be retaken.
 A retake can only be granted after student has prepared a 30
question test with answers on the given material.
 This must be completed within 10 days of given test.
 Retake grade will be the one that will be recorded
 All retakes will be scheduled out of class time ONLY!
 NO extra credit will be given.
 Any extra credit questions on test will count toward bonus points
 Bonus points can be applied at the end of the quarter
 Work ethic scores on a scale from 1 to 4 will be recorded at the end
of each quarter.
 At the end of the semester if you have a 92% or above,
you can choose NOT to take the final. You will receive
the same percentage you have earned as a grade on the
final.
Tardies and Absences
 Columbia High School Policy will be followed for ALL
students.
 Students must be in classroom and ready for class to
begin when the tardy bell rings.
 Transfer students must be in classroom and ready for
class to begin 10 minutes after tardy bell rings.
 If you arrive late you must get a pass from the office to
enter the class.
 Three tardies will result in an absence.
 There are no textbooks for my classes so it is important
that you attend each and every class.
It is the student’s responsibility to get all notes
missed during absences
It is the student’s responsibility to get all missed
assignments and complete it within two days for each
day absent.
Any test missed must be scheduled with teacher and
taken within 5 days.
 More than 6 absences per semester may result in having
to petition for grade.
Current Event Friday:
Every Friday we have class we will do a current event
reading. Could be an article, web search or movie. You
will read/watch the information and then answer
these questions on it. The questions will be as follows:
What is the title of the article? What is the article
about? What type of ag is it about: livestock,
production, manufacturing, research? What are three
questions you have about the article? What would you
do different if you had a chance? What was your
opinion of the article as a whole? You will also list and
define two words that you have not read before or
are used in a new way. You will be graded on how much
effort you put into your writing. This needs to be at
least ¾ of a page long.
FFA Information
 Looking for new members
 Dues: $25 Paid by end of September will be guaranteed a t-shirt
 Welcome Back BBQ: Sept. 1, 5:30-7. Bring your parents.
 First Chapter Meeting: September 10 at 6. Meetings on 2rd Thursday
of each month at 6.
 Look at FFA Board for schedule of event
 First District Meeting-September 14th BBQ/Workshops (5:30pm)
 First District CDE-Dairy Cattle Judging and Dairy Foods
 Benefits: Self-Confidence, friends, trips, fun, college credits
 School Website and Facebook
 Shop Open 7-4 most days (Includes Computer)
 Vending Machine
 Building and grounds WILL be treated with respect
Intro to Agriculture
 Agriculture: The science, art or occupation concerned with
cultivating land, raising crops and feeding, breeding and raising
livestock.
 Livestock: Domesticated animals raised in an agricultural
settings to produce commodities.
 Crop: a plant or plant product that is grown by farmers
 Commodity: a raw material or primary agricultural product that
can be bought and sold
GENERAL AG FACTS
 Dairy Cows: Idaho-581,000 and US-9,208,400
 Top Ten Countries:
 India 44,900,000
 Brazil 23,229,193
 China 12,297,297
 Ethiopia 10,676,783
 Pakistan 9,444,000
 United States 9,198,000
 Russia 8,136,896
 Sudan 7,518,000
 Tanzania 6,900,000
 Kenya 5,545,000
 Beef Cows: 2,220,000 and US 87,730,000
 Five Top States:
 1. Texas 10,900,000
 2. Nebraska 6,150,000
 3. Kansas 5,800,000
 4. California 5,250,000
 5. Oklahoma 4,300,000
 13. Idaho 2,200,000
 Sheep
 Top Ten States:
 1. Texas 650,000
 2. California 570,000
 3. Colorado 460,000
 4. Wyoming 370,000
 5. Utah 305,000
 6. S. Dakota 285,000
 7. Idaho 240,000
 8. Montana 225,000
 Oregon 200,000
 Iowa 195,000
 Pigs: US #3 at 62.1 Million (China and Brazil)
 1. Iowa 19,200,000
 2. N. Carolina 7,900,000
 3. Minnesota 7,700,000
 Turkeys
 Top Three States:
 1. Minnesota
 2. Arkansas
 3. N. Carolina
 Laying Chickens
 Three Top Egg States:
 1. Iowa
 2. Ohio
 3. Indiana
 Meat Chickens
 Top Three States:
 1. Gerogia 1,222,366,000
 2. Alabama 1,002,979,000
 3. Arkansas 878,819,000
 Field Crops
 US top 7 Field Crops
 Corn 84M acres and $63.98
 1. US is the largest producer of the World’s corn 32%
 2. Grown on over 400,000 farms
 3. Export 20% -- highest exporter
 4. 80% of corn is consumed by the World’s livestock, poultry and fish
 5. Each American consumes 25lbs of corn annually
 6. Used for food, paints, candles, fireworks, drywall, sandpaper, dyes,
crayons, shoe polish, antibiotics and adhesives. Also, ethanol fuel.
 Soybeans 73.8M Acres and $37.6B
 1. 2nd highest US crop. 50% of world’s production
 2. Soybean oil is #1 edible oil
 3. Products are oil, meal and hulls.
 4. 30M tons of soybean meal is consumed as livestock feed
 Hay 55.7M Acres and $6.7B
 1. Production exceeds 119M tons/year
 2. Mainly domestic use but export is growing
 Wheat 45.7M Acres and $14.6B
 1. Over 160,810 farms produce over 2.27B bushels/year
 2. US produces 10% of the World’s wheat
 3. 2/3rds comes from the Great Plains (Texas to Montana)
 4. 70% used for food, 22% used for animal feed and 8% for
seed
 Cotton 9.5M Acres and $8.3B
 1. Only grows in 17 Southern States
 2. 30% of the World’s Cotton grown in US
 3. 75% used for apparel (7.3B lbs/yr)
 4. 18% into home furnishing
 5. 7% industrial use. Cottonseed and meal used for livestock.
Cottonseed oil used for cooking.
 Sourgham 3.9M Acres and $1.3B
 1. Primarily used as an animal feed
 2. Worldwide-50% of sorghum is used for human consumption
 3. Drought resistant, easy to grow
 4. 1/3rd produces bio-fuel
 Rice 2.6M Acres and $2.98B
 1. 3 types of rice grown in 4 major regions of the country
 2. 2% production of World’s total-2nd largest exporter with 10%
 3. 50-60% used for food, 18% used for processed food, 10-12% into pet food and
10% used for beer production
 Fruit Citrus, Nuts, Non-Citrus
 US most popular fruits: Bananas, Apples, Oranges, Grapes and Strawberries
 Nation’s top three fruit producing states: 50% California, 25% Florida and 10%
Washington
 California: grapes, strawberries, peaches, nectarines, kiwifruit, apples, pears, plums
and sweet cherries. 2nd top producer of citrus fruits. Also a leading producer of many
nuts and olives.
 Washington-largest apple producer and major producer of grapes and pears
 Florida-is top producer of all citrus
What do you Know??
 How many types of dairy cows can you name?
 What is the color of the most popular dairy cow?
 Pigs make what famous cut of meat? What other meats come from pigs?
 Baby sheep are called what?
 Can you name any types of beef cows?
 Angus are what color?
 Chickens are divided into two categories; what are they?
 How many cuts of meats can you name?
 What is wheat used to make?
 What is Idaho’s number one crop?
 What are sugar beets used for?
 Is there milk in yogurt?
 Does a cow have to be pregnant to produce milk?
 How many baby piglets does a pig have in one litter?
 What is an orchard?
 How many times can you harvest a hay field in one year?