The hot, dry days of summer and the cool, rainy days of winter make the San Joaquin Valley in California one of the richest areas agriculturally in the nation. The importance of that status has not gone unnoticed by the Manteca Unified School District which boasts a new 21,288-square-foot facility at its Manteca, Calif., ag farm. The farm is designed to help meet the school district’s goal of providing an educational experience for students to explore opportunities and prepare for successful careers in the field of agriculture. Programs are operated through the district’s East Union High School.
Varco Pruden Buildings photo
The three-building facility which was completed in the fall of 2010, is a direct extension of classroom-laboratory instruction. It supports supervised agricultural experiences as well as FFA and 4-H student organization activities. Students are exposed to the full enterprise of animal production, from taking part in the showing and exhibiting of animals as well as production.
The complex was built by Roland Construction Inc., of Stockton, Calif., using a combination of Varco Pruden framing systems, including VP’s Rigid Frame and Unibeam Lean-To system.
Roland Construction selected steel buildings for the wide clear span capabilities and timely erection as well as delivering the project at a substantial savings over conventional construction. The largest of the three buildings is the hog barn, which is 40 by 120 feet long with a 10-foot eave height. Each end has a 9 foot wide by 24 foot long roof lean-to. There are two enclosed rooms, one for furrowing and one for tack. The open-roof structure covers enclosed pens.
The beef and dairy barn actually is two sections, one is 100 feet wide by 24 feet long and the other is 40 feet wide and 56 feet long with a 10 foot eave. The building has a 540-square-foot enclosed tack room. A roof with no walls covers the exercise and corral areas.
The arena and sheep barn is 80 feet by 140 feet with a 10-foot eave height. The building has an 800-square-foot enclosed hay storage area and a 1,180-square-foot enclosed tack room.
Varco Pruden Buildings photo
The school’s Montadale Sheep Project is the only one of its kind in the nation, offering MUSD students with a direct opportunity to study and engage in a sheep breeding project and show team.
All the buildings feature partition walls and cupolas. The trim work was particularly challenging for the builder. “There were cupolas on all the buildings so the trim work was very time-consuming,” notes Jim Hoagland, owner of Roland Construction. “There were a lot of angle trims and it took time to make them look pristine. It’s not your typical barn”.
Roof pitch is 4:12. The panel rib roof and walls also are from Varco Pruden. Cool Sierra Tan was used on the walls and terra cotta on the roofs.
“It’s a beautiful facility,” says Michael Garr, director of secondary education at MUSD. Although more extensive ag programs on the high school level are not unusual in this part of the country, the new buildings at Manteca are special. “This is very unique. This is a huge thing for a high school district, it’s a huge feather in their cap for an agricultural program,” Garr added.
Garr says it’s a part of a trend he’s seeing of a return to vocational education at the high school level. “Now you’re seeing the welding shops come back and the wood shops come back and it’s very interesting,” he says.
At the same time, funding is making the return more difficult. “It’s at a time now where schools are cutting back on these kinds of building projects so it’s great the students can have a facility like this to come to,” Hoagland says. As a builder in the area he knows the credit goes to a culture that values its agricultural livelihood and works hard to keep it. “FFA and 4-H programs here in the rural valley are very strong so many people support agricultural programs here,” he explains. Hoagland is proud to have been part of this one in particular. “The most rewarding part of this job for us is knowing that the students have a first class facility that will help advance their education,” he says.
The school had been using an old farm with traditional wooden structures adjacent to the new facility. Those remain and still serve as animal housing.
In addition to animals, the students maintain five acres of row crops year round. During the school year, they provide fresh produce to the school cafeteria, with Nutrition Services buying the fruits and vegetables in bulk.
Last year, the district was recognized as a finalist in first lady Michelle Obama’s Recipes for Healthy Kids Competition for a recipe that uses farm grown butternut squash.
The ag project was one of two planned at the farm. The second phase included a culinary arts program that was stalled due to lack of funding.
Project: Manteca Unified School District Ag Farm, East Union High School, Manteca, Calif.
Builder: Roland Construction, Inc., Stockton, Calif.
Architect: Kirk Heiser, Heiser & Associates, San Rafael, Calif.
Metal building system: Varco Pruden Buildings, Memphis, Tenn.