Growing up on a farm, Kaitlin Hallam felt like she was on a playground full of science, allowing her to explore the life process of plants and animals. She worked with her father to produce crops, raise livestock and repair all of the equipment used with these enterprises.
At the age of 6, the Spanish Fork, Utah, resident began raising and caring for hogs and sheep to take to livestock shows around the state. Eventually, she branched out to include crops, broilers and turkeys. She had to ensure she carefully selected each animal when she was showing. Through implementation of scientific research, she has been able to operate a profitable agricultural enterprise.
One of Hallam’s first research projects began when she was in ninth grade, when she began studying how she could increase the weight of newborn pigs, and from there her research continued to grow. In fact, every one of her crop and livestock projects has research studies attached to them.
While the Brigham Young University student believes research is important, she also believes it is important to give back to the community. For three years, she studied the effect of sex segregation on turkey dressing weights and feed efficiency, discovering that feed efficiency was indeed higher in segregated birds. She raised approximately 108 turkeys for the project.
Once the research was complete, she processed her turkeys at the Tremont FFA processing plant. She then organized a group of students and parents to provide 40 Thanksgiving baskets for needy families. These baskets included on of her turkeys from the research project. In addition, she also presented one of research turkeys to each of the 35 volunteers at the local volunteer fire department.
Hallam believes that through research, she can help better the agricultural field, which in turn benefits society as a whole.
Hallam is the daughter of J. Merrill and Pam Hallam. She is a member of the Spanish Fork FFA Chapter, led by advisors Nicole Draper, Chaleesa Warren, Kaylee Liddiard, Nyle Russell, Brandon Gardner and Lena Baadsgard.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download