Fresno State agriculture students will be participating in a collegiate-level competitive livestock event hosted during the Big Fresno Fair, which kicks off on Wednesday.

Students from the Jordan College of Agriculture Science and Technology will show off campus-raised beef cattle starting Friday, Oct. 5 at noon.

Randy Perry, professor of animal science and faculty adviser of the beef show team, said there will be a variety of teams of Fresno State students working in different ways at the fair.

“We have our beef show team.­ There’s about twenty kids involved in that group,” Perry said.

There will be other area show teams participating at the fair’s collegiate-level show, including Modesto Junior College, Merced College, College of the Sequoias and Reedley College.­ Other schools from California such as Bakersfield College, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and CSU Chico will also be showing livestock.

The Red Wave Show and Sale team, which is an animal science class taught by Perry, will be helping local 4-H, an agriculture-focused youth development organization, and Future Farmers of America (FFA) members who are showing animals in the Junior Livestock Show.­ These young participants will be showing various animal species, from large animals like beef cattle and sheep to smaller species such as rabbits and poultry.

“There’s about 50 kids in that class that will be helping during the fair in different capacities,” Perry said.

These capacities include everything from managing the animals in show rings to helping the 4-H and FFA participants weigh their animals in with the County Fair staff, even unloading and loading animals from when they are coming and going from the fair grounds.

Martin Castro, who recently graduated from Fresno State’s Animal Science and Agriculture Education program, will be helping at the Big Fresno Fair.­ He feels that helping the participants and working with the animals is important for both understanding the daily work of an agriculturalist and being able to educate others in the area of agricultural sciences.

“It’s a great source for hands-on experience,” Castro said.

He described the group of Fresno State students who are involved as a diverse bunch.­ Some he says, have shown animals as 4-H and FFA students others are new to the Fair activities.

In years past, Fresno State students have shown other animals including sheep, swine and dairy cows.­ The livestock exhibits are held at the livestock pavilion on the southwest side of the fair grounds.

In January, the Red Wave team puts on a beef sale at Fresno State, followed by a livestock show at the Fresno County Fair grounds in February.

The Big Fresno Fair will run until Oct. 14.