Last month, Los Banos High School’s FFA Dairy Cattle Juding team was able to travel to Scotland in hopes of competing in the Royal Highland Show.
The team had officially placed third in the National FFA Convention, which had opened up this opportunity for the team. However, due to a number of issues with the hosting organization, the team was not officially recognized in the competition for their performance.
At the National FFA Convention, the Los Banos team initially placed fourth, but Stuart McCullough, the FFA dairy advisor, had been notified one month later that a change in the judging rubric resulted in an increase in the team’s score. This technicality placed the team in third place, instead of a Wisconsin FFA team.
After the mistake was announced, Patti Hurtgen, California native and online media manager of Hoard’s Dairyman, ensured that the dairy industry knew of the mistake. Hurtgen had worked with McCullough in the past as teammates on the Fresno State dairy team in 1992 and the two have remained friends since.
Hurtgen also works closely with Wisconsin FFA and 4H teams and was passionate about correcting the record so that the Los Banos team could gain recognition by the dairy industry. However, the FFA organization failed to formally recognize the Los Banos team on stage at the national convention where over 60 thousand people attended.
McCullough said, “These students had worked so hard only to have their moment taken away from them.”
The FFA organization did not issue a formal apology and still have not officially recognized the team’s new placement on their website, which McCullough states is a “big disappointment in a business that is focused around the success of children.”
Despite the situation and the late notice, McCullough began the process of getting the Los Banos team to Scotland for the Royal Highland Show.
McCullough faced issues communicating with the executive director of the Scotland Association of Young Farmers, an organization closely tied with the Royal Highland Show.
In his attempt to properly register the team, McCullough was given “vague schedules and deadlines,” and his emails were met with “lagged” responses.
Initially, McCullough was asked if he was traveling with an affiliated travel organization. Due to scheduling conflicts and lack of funding, McCullough had decided to make independent travel plans. He was given no further information regarding the significance of traveling with the organization.
As a result of the inconsistent communication, several other individuals became involved in the conversation, such as the Ag Booster president, a Booster board member and assisting parents. With their help, McCullough was able to complete the registration and payment process.
Communication with the Young Farmers Association (YFA) began in December of 2023 and continued until a week before the Royal Highland Show in June. McCullough confirmed with the YFA executive director that the Los Banos team was properly registered and paid for.
The team arrived in Scotland a couple days early to tour Edinburgh, where the Royal Highland Show was taking place. On Friday, the team spent the day on the Highland Grounds for the “impressive” shows and fair, where the sold-out national event attracts hundreds of thousands of people every year.
Upon arrival at the show on Friday, the team checked into the YFA booth with no issue. On Saturday morning, the Los Banos team was ready to compete in the North American portion of the event, wearing white laboratory coats and notepads.
McCullough was then told by the YFA executive director that the Los Banos team was unable to compete in the North American event because they hadn’t traveled with the affiliated organization. However, the Los Banos team would be able to participate in the European portion and would be given results.
After the team’s participation in the European event, McCullough retrieved papers with printed scores, but no rankings. McCullough then spoke with the executive director, who explained that they had not been ranked at all in either event.
McCullough stated that it was very disheartening.
“I had this paper with really, really good scores, which the executive director agreed with. But she continued to explain that we couldn’t compete in either event,” he said.
After being given the rankings for the North American event, McCullough determined that Matthew Pacheco and Brooklyn Silva would have been the fourth highest pair. Matthew Pacheco also outscored both North American and European competitors and would have been announced as the High Individual of both contests. However, the kids were “denied the recognition.”
“I was really dumbfounded by the amount of effort put in to bring these kids to Scotland and not be given the courtesy to have the information of knowing exactly what was going to happen,” McCullough said.
McCullough recalled that he read through his entire email conversation with the executive director and was never told that they weren’t able to officially compete. Despite the unfortunate end to the trip, McCullough is grateful for the privilege to travel with the FFA team and their families who are “passionate about the success of the students.”
In addition to connecting with his Scottish heritage, McCullough was also happy to experience Scotland’s sights with the kids.
McCullough explained that the continued lack of recognition for the Los Banos High FFA team has been “incredibly disappointing,” especially by the FFA organization. However, McCullough is very appreciative of the support shown to the FFA team, not just from Los Banos but from “all over.”
“The tremendous amount of continued support for this group of children, who were doing something that has never happened, is absolutely humbling,” he said.
