OYEA hosts coffee

PRESCOTT – Thursday’s community coffee was hosted by OYEA, the Organization for Youth Education in Agriculture.

The coffee, sponsored by the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce, was held in the Nevada County Library conference room. Fred Harris, one of the founders of OYEA, said it is a 501(c)3 organization that was started about six years ago. In the program, students raise livestock from birth to it being shown at fairs and other shows. This includes cows, sheep, goats, hogs and rabbits.

To help fund the organization, hogs are slaughtered, with the products being sold locally. OYEA offers summer sausage, hot and mild breakfast sausage and has recently added brats. Pork chops are also sold, but they go fast, Harris said. The meat is taken to a USDA approved plant for processing. The sausage can be bought at Cash Savers, while all other products, including the sausage, can be bought at Express RX.

This program, Harris said, gives children the opportunity to raise an animal from birth and care for it through showing seasons at no cost to them. OYEA, he added, subsists solely on contributions and the sale of meat products. To date, more than $20,000 worth of sausage has been sold.

Harris informed those attending the coffee this year’s OYEA banquet will be held on Nov. 6 at Willow Oaks Acres.