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MO YOUNG FARMS/YOUNG FARM WIVES SPEAKING CONTEST

1st – Crista Perry, Liberal
2nd – Avery Ridgley, Montgomery Co
3rd – Harlee Beck, Chillicothe

MO QUARTER HORSE ASSOCIATION

1st – Ruby Hinds, West Plains
2nd – Glenna Barnett, Chillicothe

MO PET BREEDERS ASSOCIATION

1st – Carissa Simagna, Aurora
2nd – Gracie Small, Linn Co.
3rd – Lyndsey King, Gallatin

MO FOREST PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION

1st – Madilynn Cook, Forsyth
2nd – Bethany Slovensky, Wellsville
3rd – Brooklyn Fleming, Leeton

MO CATTLE INDUSTRY SPEAKING CONTEST

1st – Mikaela Rojas, Linn Co.
2nd – Natalie Neil, Nevada
3rd – Sara Tuschhoff, Cuba

MO PORK ASSOCIATION SPEAKING CONTEST

1st – Sadie Brunch, Chillicothe
2nd – Sophia Geppert, North Callaway
3rd – Ashtyn O’Malley, Buffalo

MO ASSOC OF SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICTS

1st – Micah Winslow, Republic
2nd – Kate Strackeljahn, St. James
3rd – Abigail Burns, Gallatin

TEACH AG SPEAKING EVENT

1st – Dylan Hoyt, Community R-6
2nd – Gabrielle Thompson, Forsyth
3rd – Jerrica Hess, Northwest Tech

MO SHEEP PRODUCERS SPEAKING CONTEST

1st – Isabella Collins, Aurora
2nd – Marah Greiman, Monroe City
3rd – Hallie Rider, Belle

See Full Results >> 

FARM BUREAU SPEAKING CONTEST

1st – Matthew Lakey, Ava
2nd – Karsyn Gleeman, Braymer
3rd – Lydea Britt, Salisbury

MO INSTITUTE OF COOPERATIVES SPEAKING CONTEST

1st – Ellie Samek, Bolivar
2nd – Haley Sunfield, Hermann
3rd – Samual Setzer, Appleton City

Release courtesy of the Missouri Department of Agriculture

For more information, contact the department’s Public Information Office at (573) 751-2613 or Christi.Miller@mda.mo.gov.

February 22, 2024

Three Missouri FFA Student Members Receive a Total of $600 in the Missouri Forest Products Association FFA Public Speaking Contest Finalists Presented on January 9 at the MFPA Winter Meeting in Jefferson City

From L-R: Brooklyn Fleming, Carmella Pendergrass, Marlee Jones, Bethany Slovensky, Madilynn Cook, Brian Brookshire, Executive Director of MFPA

Missouri Forest Products Association, in conjunction with the Missouri FFA chapter offers congratulations to all students who entered their second annual FFA Public Speaking Contest and announced that Madilynn Cook from Forsyth High School located in Forsyth, MO was selected as the statewide winner.

The speaking contest was open to all Missouri FFA student members enrolled in vocational agriculture courses during the fall semester of the 2023/24 school year. Of the 12 students competing at the district level, the top six finalists (one from each FFA district in Missouri) each presented their 6-8 minute speech and answered follow-up questions on the topic of “What are the carbon benefits of the forest and wood products industry?” Three finalists were then selected during the MFPA’s winter meeting in Jefferson City at Courtyard Marriott on January 9, 2024. First place and $200 was awarded to Madilynn Cook, second place and $150 went to Bethany Slovensky, and Brooklyn Fleming received $100 for third place.

Missouri is home to more than 26,000 FFA members.

“A large component of Missouri Forest Products Association is education, so partnering with Missouri FFA is a perfect fit for us,” said Brian Brookshire, executive director of MFPA. “It is a great opportunity for MFPA to reach young leaders across the state and allow them to learn about and present a speech on a topic that pertains to not only our industry but a topic that is important to everyone’s future. We were quite impressed with the finalists for this year’s contest. We’d like to officially thank the students who participated and congratulate the winners.”

The 2023 Missouri Sheep Producers State FFA Speaking contest was held at Margaritaville Resort on Sunday December 3rd.  Ed DeOrnellis, chairman of the event said, “The contest is designed to develop individual public speaking skills and to promote interest in and awareness of the many different aspects of the sheep industry.”  Participants earned the right to compete at the state contest by winning their respective district competitions.

District winners are, Central – Katherine Rohrbach – California FFA, Southeast – Cara Fulmer – Perryville FFA and Northwest – Hadley Cline – Jefferson FFA.   Results of the competition were as follows; First Place – Isabella Collins – Aurora FFA, Second Place – Marah Greiman – Monroe City FFA, Third Place – Hallie Rider  – Belle FFA.  Christy Green, MSP Executive Director, presented each of the participants with a plaque and a check from MSP.  Pictured from left to right are Christy Green, Isabella Collins, Marah Greiman, Hallie Rider, Hadley Cline, Cara Fulmer and Katherine Rohrbach.

The Soy Innovation Challenge, brought to you by Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council (MSMC), aims to engage Missouri FFA members in creating valuable and engaging exhibits and ideas based on the soy value chain. Students will be tasked to plan and design a soy-focused agricultural education mobile classroom via the MSMC-purchased school bus. Students will develop an understanding of the uses of soy that are utilized in everyday products, by curating what this bus looks like, both on the inside and out. Exhibiting the uses of soy is essential to the development of soy markets that benefit farmers.

The Governor and Lieutenant Governor drove tractors to work in honor of FFA Week.

JEFFERSON CITY —

On behalf of nearly 26,000 members of Missouri FFA, Governor Mike Parson proclaimed Feb. 18-25, 2023, to be National FFA Week in Missouri.

“Missouri’s agriculture industry depends on our young people taking the lead,” Governor Mike Parson said. “We’re proud to see such leadership displayed in Missouri FFA members each time we meet with them. For the First Lady and I, living the agricultural way of life is our American Dream, and we appreciate all that our Missouri FFA members do to preserve that legacy and tradition for the next generations.”

For the fifth year in a row, Gov. Parson drove a John Deere tractor to the Capitol in honor of the FFA tradition of students driving their tractor to school during National FFA Week. Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe joined in on the tradition again this year, demonstrating his ties to agriculture and commitment to FFA students. Missouri FFA President Colton Roy, from the Trenton FFA Chapter, received the proclamation on behalf of the 2022-2023 Missouri FFA State Officer team.

“Missouri FFA members have access to incredible opportunities to learn and grow,” Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe said. “As a first-generation farmer, I am proud to celebrate the future of Missouri agriculture with our next generation of leaders during National FFA Week in Missouri. It’s important we continue traditions, such as today’s event, to showcase our support of agricultural youth organizations.”

In 1928, 33 young men met at the Baltimore Hotel in Kansas City, Mo., and began the National Future Farmers of America Organization (FFA). Today, the organization’s official name is the National FFA Organization, which 95 years later is represented locally by 8,995 FFA chapters and 850,823 members nationwide.

“The passion FFA members possess is indescribable,” Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn said. “Their excitement for the future of agriculture is reassuring. I’m confident Missouri FFA members will help the Missouri agriculture industry soar to new heights in the years to come, and I’m proud to stand alongside them as they do so.”

Missouri FFA continues to help the next generation rise up to meet the challenges of feeding a growing population by helping its members to develop their own unique talents and explore their interests in a broad range of career pathways through their experiences in agricultural education. Missouri is home to more than 356 chapters and 25,677 members, ranking the eighth highest in the nation for membership.

“Missouri schools work to provide students with access to opportunities, and FFA does just that,” said Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Margie Vandeven. “FFA has a rich history of helping students develop their skills and the attributes needed to be ready for their chosen path to success. We are proud of our students and the FFA Advisors who lead alongside them each day.”

The Missouri FFA Foundation and Google.org partner to improve agriculture education classrooms

In 2022, the Missouri FFA Foundation launched the Learning by Doing Classroom Grants’ program to assist agriculture education teachers across the state in improving the curriculum, equipment, facilities, and supplies needed to support instruction in production agriculture, agri-business, or related areas. The response to the program was enthusiastic with almost twice the number of applications as funding available. “We saw a clearly demonstrated need to not only continue but broaden the program if the challenge of adequate funding could be resolved,” said Heather Dimitt-Fletcher, Executive Director.

Late last fall, the Missouri FFA Foundation received a call from Dan Harbeke, Head of Public Policy and External Affairs with Google. His company was looking for an avenue to provide resources to youth throughout Missouri, in a way that also fit with the company’s mission. He saw potential in the foundation’s Learning by Doing Classroom Grants’ program but wanted to learn more about it. During this conversation, Dimitt-Fletcher shared multiple stories with Harbeke where the classroom grants could support technology in agriculture education classes, including an ultrasound machine for monitoring pregnancies in livestock, energy efficient water and heat controls for green houses, and 3-D printers for making hard to find/fit parts in ag mechanics classes. After their conversation, Harbeke was pleased to share that Google.org would be making a $50,000 donation to the Missouri FFA Foundation in support of the Learning by Doing Classroom grants program.

The Missouri FFA Foundation plans to distribute the $50,000 from Google.org over the course of four years to support the purchase of new or update of existing technology in agriculture education classrooms.  It’s anticipated 40 classroom grants will be possible due to the generosity of Google.org.

Saturday January 7, 2023 – Springfield

9AM – 3:30PM at the MSU Darr Ag Center

 Former national FFA officer and speech trainer, Andrew McCea, will lead this event to help FFA members of all levels improve their speaking skills and prepare for the LDE season.  State FFA officers will also provide insights on specific speaking LDEs.  This is the perfect place for FFA members to…

Improve public speaking skills

Get tips and prepare for FFA Speaking Contests

Learn to become an Advocate for Agriculture

Have fun and learn the essentials to better speaking!

CDE/LDE PARTICIPANTS:

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