by Whitney Merrill

Sheep girls at Pillar Point Harbor with lambs. Photo courtesy of Debbie Utz.

Oct. 1, 2010 — If you were wandering around El Granada or Pillar Point Harbor during the springtime, you may have seen Jenna Baxter and Ashley Utz out walking their sheep. Participating in the 4-H Market Sheep program, the “Sheep Girls” — as they like to be called — walked their sheep around the neighborhood to build muscle and tone for the San Mateo County Fair competition. The girls’ dedication, commitment and unique exercise program have won them several awards, including Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion — first and second place — for sheep Jasper and Alice in 2009. These two eighth-graders are passionate about their animals, about horses and about the various 4-H programs available here on the coast.

Jenna has been raising animals in 4-H for six years, starting with the Rabbit Project in second grade, and eventually working herself up to raising sheep. She says, “I always wanted to raise a big animal and I have always wanted a horse; maybe this is a stepping stone.” Looking out at the yard with the sheep pens, her mother Kathi says, “The girls are very responsible. Having the sheep in the backyard and getting up at 6 a.m. — it’s a big commitment.” Jenna’s future plans include going to the University of California, Davis and potentially becoming a vet. As she notes about her 4-H work with various animals: “It prepares you. I pretend to do vet stuff on them and it’s fun.”

Sheep girls with their medals. Photo courtesy of Kathi Baxter.

Ashley started raising animals in 4-H when she was in fifth grade, and has been raising sheep with her friend Jenna for three years. Like Jenna, she says, “I wanted to raise a bigger animal. We both really like horses.” Her future plans include having a farm in California, but for right now she says, “It’s fun to hang out with Jenna; we can do the same things. It keeps us together. It’s our friendship. We talk about homework and school. It’s really nice.”

4-H runs a number of programs for raising livestock animals, each run by a project leader. The Market Sheep program lasts a year, starting in September with a lot of education; the girls get their sheep in March. They then progress to raising the animals, marketing them, and selling them at auction. Jenna notes that she held her lamb as a baby, and she “tried to keep from crying” when she had to give up it up at the fair. However, as her buyer’s letter illustrates, the girls understand and have come to appreciate the connections between the food we eat and the animals that provide it for us:

“Do lamb chops sound good for dinner tonight?  You could have a freezer full of lamb in June of this year if you buy my lamb at the San Mateo County Fair Livestock Auction on Saturday, June 19. … My lamb’s name is Luna. She is seven months old and is a Dorset Hampshire cross. She is fed four pounds of grain each day and I walk her every day to build muscle. She will likely reach 150 pounds by fair time.”

The girls are currently serving as officers in the Half Moon Bay 4-H Club, which currently meets at the Farm Bureau on Main Street at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month. Serving as “Livestock Ambassadors,” they also mentor others in the club, helping them learn how to raise award-winning livestock. Other parts of their responsibilities include planning meetings and giving presentations, as well as preparing Record Books that track project progress from year to year, allowing the girls to compete for awards at the club, county and state levels as well as various scholarships for higher education.

Jenna and Ashley plan to raise sheep again next year, starting in March. When I ask them if they’ll be walking them around the neighborhood again, Jenna says, “If we don’t walk them, they’ll get bored and chew on fences.”