16th Annual UF/IFAS Range Cattle REC Youth Field Day

If you prefer to avoid Eventbrite registration fees (nonrefundable) contact us directly to register and pay by check:

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Our goal is to excite students about agriculture and science, reveal future opportunities in those fields, and foster a love of learning which will promote agriculture and good stewardship in this and future generations.

For this in-person event, everyone attending must purchase a ticket (students and adults), so we have plenty of space for the groups to travel by wagon and space in classrooms. Adults who don't want to purchase a ticket are welcome to wait on their students at the assembly area.

A participant consent, release and waiver of liability must be completed for everyone (students and adults) attending. Each adult must submit their own form. An adult attending with their children can include their children on their form (up to 5 minors can be included with 1 adult submission). If minors will be coming with you that are not your children, have their parent or guardian complete the online form for them. Click here for the online form:
When you register, you will receive this link in your confirmation e-mail.

This year's image (below) is last year's winning t-shirt design. Shirts will be sage green, made and imprinted by Magnolia Loom, 100% USA made with Florida grown cotton. They can be pre-ordered when you register prior to May 15. Those will be available for pickup at the field day. Orders placed after that date will be shipped mid-July.

Info: At check-in all attendees will pickup a name tag, complete a per-quiz, vote on their favorite t-shirt design for 2026, pickup or order extra t-shirts, get some water and a snack and turn in a signed release form (if they haven't done so already).

Info: Visit booths on your own. There will be a variety, with lots of hands-on activities. Students who visit all the booths will be entered in a prize drawing to be done in the closing assembly.

Info: At 10:00 a.m. all attendees will assemble in the courtyard by the picnic table to meetup with their group leaders. After a brief welcome, at 10:10 a.m. groups will head to their first class site. Groups will all attend the same classes, just at different times. Each group will visit 5 class sessions and a lunch break; each will last 25-minutes. They will include BQA topics: cattle handling, biosecurity, cattle nutrition, and pasture and herd health. Everyone will complete a post-quiz/event evaluation at their last class site.

Info: Wouldn’t it be cool if you could find out how good the carcass is on a beef animal without having to harvest them… did you know that we can, using ultrasound technology! Did you know that cattle with higher meat quality are worth more money? Would you like to know how to select superior beef at the grocery store? In this session we look under the hide with sound waves and learn what good quality beef looks like!

Info: Learn about the new AI technologies University of Florida researchers are developing to help farmers with pest control for their crops.

Info: University of Florida researchers and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) staff will teach attendees about some of Florida's invasive reptiles and share what they can do to help protect our native species they threaten.

Info: The goal of every cow-calf producer is to have a productive and economically efficient cow that raises and weans a calf every 365 days. A cow’s diet plays a large role in achieving that goal by giving that calf a running start during the fetal development process. The objective of the class will be to convey the importance of meeting the nutritional requirements of cows in each gestational stage to achieve the goal of selling a heavy, healthy calf to improve profitability. Topics will cover what takes place in each fetal development phase and the different prices received for steer calves of different live weights, muscle thickness scores, and carcass weights.

Info: Soil is an amazing thing! It's not just dirt but a whole world under our feet. Just like we have different personalities, soil also has different textures that make it unique. By getting your hands dirty and feeling the soil, you can tell if it's sandy and gritty, smooth like silt, or sticky like clay. And get this – the texture of the soil affects how well it can hold water, drain away too much, or keep nutrients for plants to grow big and strong. It's a secret code you can crack by becoming a soil texture detective! Once you know the code, you can help plants thrive and be a pro at taking care of the earth.

Info: All attendees will gather in the Grazinglands Education Building for the announcement of the 2025 t-shirt design contest and the prize drawing for everyone who visited all of the morning educational learning expo booths.

Also check out other Workshops in Ona, Business events in Ona, Exhibitions in Ona.