OFI 1950: A Farming Legacy Spanning From 1900 – 2023 | FFA SAE Edition | James Titus | Oakdale High School FFA

James Titus is a 4th generation farmer on his families property in Valley Home, California. James is also the oldest son of one of my oldest and dearest friends, who I grew up with in Valley Home.

Beginning as a small village made up of German immigrants at the turn of the 20th’s Century, Valley Home had two different names. First, as a small railroad water stop it was referred to as “Clyde”. After the Germans came it was referred to as “Thalheim”, German for home in the valley. During World War I, out of respect for their American countryman, the residents changed the name to its English translation – Valley Home.

Among these first residents were the Benedix family, from whom James is descended. I knew James’ Great Grandfather, Rich, when I was just a boy. Back then, the primary crop grown in Valley Home was rice. Rich farmed rice and he was assisted by James’ grandfather Fred, who I knew very well.

Today, James is “farming” on a much smaller scale than his grandfather and great grandfather. However, the Benedix legacy of agriculture in Valley Home is being kept alive by James and his family with the goat herd they keep at the home site that his Great Grandfather Rich once owned, was sold out of the family and then purchased back by James’ parents. There are thousands of stories and legacies like this, all over the U.S. James’ story is just one, but it is one that is still taking place in a small town that is specially tied to the Off-Farm Income Podcast.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Goat Production

HIGH SCHOOL: Oakdale High School, Oakdale, California

MASCOT: Mustangs

FFA ADVISOR: Ed Hartzell

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR JAMES TITUS:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Oakdale High School Ag. Department’s website:

James’ FFA Advisor’s Email Address: ehartzell@ojusd.org

Oakdale High School Telephone Number: (209) 847-3007

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE’s)

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Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world. FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack