Preparing for steer and swine shows is not an inexpensive hobby. In addition to costing exhibitors most of their free time, it takes a lot of money to keep those animals properly fed in preparation for a big event.
The Burnette family bought Harold’s Feed and Pet Supply after its previous owner, Harold Stutzman, retired in 1997. Since then, the store has had a lot of growth in staff size, inventory and clientele.
Some of the store’s most important customers are students in high school and middle school, and sometimes even younger, who participate in agriculture shows around the county and state.
Because of their passion for encouraging local students, the Burnette family came up with an idea a few years ago to help offset the cost of feed for a few lucky participants at the Florida Strawberry Festival.
Payback Program
The Harold’s Strawberry Festival payback drawing began in 2011. Store owner Bill Burnette and his family wanted to help some of the students who showed steer and swine at the festival.
Some people support these students by purchasing their steer or swine after the show. But the Burnettes wanted to do something less biased and more creative.
“We brainstormed for probably a whole year to come up with something that worked, that would be fair to every kid,” Burnette said.
He decided to do a randomized drawing, in which two students’ names would be pulled: one from the steer show and one from the swine show. Those winners would be paid back in full for Harold’s customers’ average expense of feed for one season.
Looking through his records to find out how just how much his customers typically spent on feed between July and February, Burnette found that most steer exhibitors bought 80 to 110 bags of feed during this time frame, and most swine exhibitors bought 11 to 14 bags of feed.
So customers who buy at least 85 bags of steer feed, or 11 bags of swine feed, between July 1 and the Florida Strawberry Festival show are eligible for the drawing. The two winners in 2011 received reimbursement for these amounts of feed.
The drawing is done at the festival, with numbered poker chips instead of name cards, to eliminate potential bias. Pam Walden, supervisor of agriculture education for Hillsborough County Area 6 schools, pulls the winning chips.
“It’s kind of a win-win, because, hopefully, you pick up a few new customers for the next year,” Burnette said.
In 2012, Burnette increased students’ odds of winning. He added a winner in each show. The first-place winner was still paid back in full, and the second-place winner received reimbursement for half of his or her feed.
In the program’s third year, Burnette added another twist to increase students’ chances of winning, but it also helped drive up revenue for Harold’s.
Exhibitors’ friends and family can help by purchasing any item at Harold’s other than show feed. At their time of checkout, they mention the exhibitor’s name. For every $100 spent at Harold’s in an exhibitor’s name, that student gets his or her name put into the drawing an extra time.
And this year, Burnette has tweaked the program yet again. In addition to all of the rules and prizes already established, now any student who qualifies for the drawing will receive an add-on at the show.
Giving and Guiding
Burnette said he never expects to make back the funds he gives to students through the payback program.
“But that’s irrelevant, because it’s something we want to do,” Burnette said. “The kids are the future. Supporting them when they’re young will allow them to do the same when they’re older.”
The payback program is only one of the ways Harold’s Feed and Pet Supply supports students in the community.
The store owners donate to the Florida Strawberry Festival’s scholarship fund. They are also sponsors for the awards at FFA livestock Career Developments Events at the state level.
In addition to funds, the family also donates its time to leading and building relationships with agriculture students in the area.
Burnette’s wife, Rhonda, is a 4-H leader, with a club of about 70 students. Their daughter, Kendall Jenkins, is a full-time agriculture teacher at Durant High School.
“Having a retail business is kind of the means to the end,” Burnette said. “Obviously, we want to make a living, but also, we love giving back to the kids.”