Watsonville FFA member Irene Torres tends to Watson, the Santa Cruz County Fair’s Heritage Hog that Torres was awarded as the 2024 Watsonville High School Agriculture Department Student of the Year. Torres, the recipient of the $3,000 Heritage Hog Scholarship, will attend Chico State University in the fall to study sustainable agriculture and says she plays to return to the Pajaro Valley to help local farms become more sustainable. The hog will be on display at the Santa Cruz County Fair, then sold on Sept. 14 at the Junior Livestock Auction. This year’s Santa Cruz County Fair, which runs Sept. 11-15, is themed "Pioneer Days to Modern Ways". Torres, who has raised chickens and hogs for auction at the past three county fairs, is the granddaughter of field workers and her great grandfather was a first-generation farmer in Mexico. (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Watson nuzzles a steer named Bello during one off his daily walks with Irene Torres. Bello, a steer raised by Watsonville FFA member Bianca Peña, will also be auctioned off at the 2024 Santa Cruz County Fair. (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)
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Watsonville FFA member Irene Torres tends to Watson, the Santa Cruz County Fair’s Heritage Hog that Torres was awarded as the 2024 Watsonville High School Agriculture Department Student of the Year. Torres, the recipient of the $3,000 Heritage Hog Scholarship, will attend Chico State University in the fall to study sustainable agriculture and says she plays to return to the Pajaro Valley to help local farms become more sustainable. The hog will be on display at the Santa Cruz County Fair, then sold on Sept. 14 at the Junior Livestock Auction. This year’s Santa Cruz County Fair, which runs Sept. 11-15, is themed "Pioneer Days to Modern Ways". Torres, who has raised chickens and hogs for auction at the past three county fairs, is the granddaughter of field workers and her great grandfather was a first-generation farmer in Mexico. (Shmuel Thaler - Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Watsonville FFA member Irene Torres tends to Watson, the Santa Cruz County Fair’s Heritage Hog that Torres was awarded as the 2024 Watsonville High School Agriculture Department Student of the Year. Torres, the recipient of the $3,000 Heritage Hog Scholarship, will attend Chico State University in the fall to study sustainable agriculture and says she plays to return to the Pajaro Valley to help local farms become more sustainable. The hog will be on display at the Santa Cruz County Fair, then sold on Sept. 14 at the Junior Livestock Auction. This year’s Santa Cruz County Fair, which runs Sept. 11-15, is themed “Pioneer Days to Modern Ways”. Torres, who has raised chickens and hogs for auction at the past three county fairs, is the granddaughter of field workers and her great grandfather was a first-generation farmer in Mexico. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)
