About
Who's Shelby Langford?
My name is Shelby Langford. I'm a Senior at Gaither in the top 2% of my class. I play soccer for both club and high school. I've been playing soccer for almost 8 years. I'm part of the marine biology club, science club, 4-H, and FFA. Agriculture has been a big part of my life; clubs like FFA and 4-H have facilitated my growth as a student, expanding my skills, knowledge, and love for agriculture. This is my first year in 4-H, and I'm looking forward to the opportunities I'll experience. This year is my 3rd year in FFA. Throughout my time in FFA, I've learned many skills, including communication, animal husbandry, swine nutrition, biosecurity, money management, leadership, and much more. I can't wait for the upcoming years and what my future in agriculture holds for me!
Where it all started.
From a young age, I've always had a connection to the outdoors from going to Learning Gate Community School, a nature-based school. At my school, I learned about the garden, environmental problems, native Florida nature, and more.
In 2018, I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. This would take a toll on the rest of my life but open doors that I would've never thought to open throughout my life. With having diabetes, I became very cautious of the foods I ate to manage my blood sugar. This led me to start eating healthier, and I decided to start a garden. Being able to grow some of the foods I ate was such a cool thing.
In 6th grade, I started an online agriculture class on FLVS. Throughout the class, I learned important aspects of agriculture and what FFA is. Once I found out I could have a cow through FFA, I was hooked. My mom was able to get in contact with Nicole Rice, my now Ag teacher. She was more than welcoming about having us on the Land Lab in the back of Gaither to meet some animals and teach a little. The Summer before my first year, my family and I were planning to show the chapter heifer (a heifer that has not given birth). I was so excited to fulfill my lifelong dream of having a cow, although the cow had unexpectedly died. Ms. Rice, my Ag teacher, had another chapter animal: a pig! Instead of the cow, I would show our chapter pig at the Hillsborough County Fair. Since then, I have had 6 pigs and have loved every day spent raising them and improving my skills.
My goals.
My goal for what I am doing is to teach others more about agriculture. I believe it’s important to know where your food comes from and how much work producers put into getting it to your plate. Getting more support for youth in agriculture is another one of my goals. I want to do this by creating relationships within our community businesses to engage them in what youth agriculturists are doing. Supporters like you are valued and appreciated for their help in the movement of Youth in Agriculture!
FUture Farmers of America
The FFA program is an amazing program that supports agriculture education in schools. This is my 3rd year in FFA. Within the program, I hold a role in our FFA chapter's officer team, serving as sentinel my first year, treasurer my sophomore year, and secretary my junior year. My SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) I partake in is showing pigs. I have had 11 swine projects in the last 3 years. I raise my pigs for 6 months, and then I sell them to be processed for market. All my profits go back into my project. Lastly, I've written many grants for my school to help our Ag program secure funding for improvements at our facilities. I was able to receive almost $12,000 to help improve our facilities at our school. The money received will go toward starting a fodder farm at our school, along with improvements to enhance our program. I also received a $1,000 grant for my personal projects of raising market pigs. I am very blessed with all the opportunities I have received from FFA and can't wait for the many more to come.
