Kansas City, Mo. (March 5, 2019) – FFA students from Missouri and Kansas collected and delivered  3,111 non-perishable food items for the annual “Border War Food Drive” at the 2019 Western Farm Show at the American Royal in Kansas City.

More than 3,500 students from the two states attended the show on FFA Day, Friday, Feb. 22, where they also had the opportunity to participate in educational seminars and learn about career opportunities in the ag industry.

About 70 chapters from Missouri participated, collecting 2,143 food items. The top chapters were Lone Jack (504), St. Joseph (233) and Gilman City (217).  Lone Jack once again had the highest total of all chapters from both states, a feat they have accomplished in seven of the last eight annual Western Farm Show food drives. The chapter will receive a $500 prize for their accomplishment.

Nearly 20 participating Kansas chapters brought 968 items to the show, with the highest totals from Louisburg (304) and Tonganoxie (280).  That ranked them second and third overall from both states, just behind Lone Jack.

The food was donated to the Harvesters – The Community Food Network, a Kansas City-based regional food bank that serves a 26-county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas. In the eight years the Western Farm Show food drive has been conducted, more than nearly 34,000 pounds of food have been delivered to Harvester’s which provided more than 28,000 meals for those facing food insecurity.

“We’re so grateful to these FFA students and the Western Farm Show, and appreciative of their continuing commitment,” said Gene Hallinan, communications manager for Harvesters.

“FFA Day is always one of the highlights of the Western Farm Show,” said show manager Ken Dean. “All the participating students are to be commended for the great leadership and commitment they demonstrated to help in the fight against hunger.”

Produced by the Western Equipment Dealers Association, the annual Western Farm Show features over 500 exhibitors and more than 400,000 square feet of floor space showcasing one of the largest indoor displays of farm equipment and other agricultural products in the Midwest. Other attractions include the Low-Stress Livestock Handling Demonstration, the Health & Safety Roundup and Family Living Center.

Imagine it. Improved conception rates and litter sizes for your hog operation. Through their animal systems agriscience experiment, Troy FFA members Dylan Sparks and Izabella Hutton Kidwell, aimed to provide commercial, show pig and seedstock farms valuable information to improve productivity.

Their experiment earned Dylan and Izabella first place honors in the animal systems, division 4 category, of the National Agriscience Fair.

The duo analyzed the type of artificial insemination (AI) rod used and how it affected conception rates and litter sizes. Their interest spawned from pork being the most widely consumed meat in the world, emphasizing the importance of increasing conception rates and litter sizes on hog operations.

Dylan and Izabella found that intrauterine or transcervical rods provide the best conception rates and litter sizes in the swine breed using artificial insemination. In fact, their data found almost twice the litter sizes and conception rates in the swine breed with the intrauterine rod.

Plans are already underway for this year’s Missouri Agriscience Fair. Registration and papers are due May 7, with the event set for May 14 at Memorial Union on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus. Get additional details online through this link: Missouri Agriscience Fair.

—from our staff.

Students in the agriculture program at State Technical College of Missouri are landing internships and full-time jobs at many high-profile companies in the turf and landscape fields. Just this year, State Tech had students on the athletic fields during the U.S. Open, World Series, Super Bowl and 100th PGA Championship. Their students are developing practical skills through multiple hands-on opportunities to prepare them for their careers.

Ryan Klatt, agriculture department chair and instructor, and Nick Rackers, instructor, make up the two-man teaching staff within agriculture at State Tech. Students pursing the commercial turf and grounds management degree take courses for two years with a required six-month internship between the first and second year.

“They stay on internship the whole time from the first week in March until August of the next [school] year when school starts back up,” Klatt said. “The reason we do that is because that’s when most landscape companies, golf courses, ball fields–they’re all looking for help. The students get out there, and they are able to see an extra season.”

The opportunity to work an extra season, as opposed to just the summer, provides students an opportunity to get more out of their internship experience by seeing how companies operate in two peak seasons of the year, spring and summer.

IN-DEPTH COURSE WORK

While the students are in classes, they are maintaining the landscape of the State Tech campus. Students are responsible for mowing, designing the landscaping, growing and planting flowers and even pruning trees and shrubs. Rackers has focused on creating a diverse, botanical garden feel over the campus by labeling each plant with its scientific name.

“I can’t teach tree and shrub identification in the middle of Osage County if I don’t have a concentration of trees and shrubs to go look at,” Rackers said. “I’m trying to create diversity on campus.”

One of the first courses students will take in the agriculture program is equipment operations, where they learn how to run a variety of mowers, mini excavators, skid loaders and multiple other pieces of equipment.

“We would rather them learn to do it here, so they know how to run that piece of equipment when they get on their internship–before we send them out in the field,” Klatt said. “The employers or the people who hire them really like that because when they are out [on internship], they are ready to hit the ground running when they get there.”

SUPERIOR INTERNSHIPS

Students are receiving internships with landscape companies, golf courses and on athletic fields. Klatt and Rackers are able to direct students toward a company, which fits their interests. They use industry connections to guide students in the right direction, but they also encourage students to become student members of certain associations, that often provide job boards where applications for some of the high-profile internships can be found.

“Out in our shop, we have what’s called our Wall of Fame,” Klatt said. “Any student who has worked for a professional team or at a high-profile golf course gets a flag on the wall. So that’s kind of our professional claim to fame.”

Over the past several years, students have worked for a variety of teams, including the Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox among others. Additionally, students have worked at the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open. In 2018 alone, State Tech had students representing the program during the U.S. Open, World Series and Super Bowl.

OUTSIDE OPPORTUNITIES

In addition to the hands-on experience during internships and through coursework, State Tech students in agriculture can be members of and participate in PAS (Professional Agricultural Student Organization).

“It [PAS] is kind of like FFA, but for college students,” Rackers said. “They have professional development type contests called CPAs. There’s floriculture, landscape, turf grass, dairy and equine, just like FFA has their CDEs. But there’s also a professional career building component.”

The professional career-building component of PAS provides students with the opportunity to expand their professional development skills through a practical application. This past year, State Tech brought home multiple awards from the state conference.

Additionally, students who are landscape-focused can attend the trade show at the Western Nursery and Landscape Association (WNLA). Currently, two State Tech students have been nominated to sit on the WNLA advisory board for the next two years.

MORE THAN MOWING GRASS

Klatt and Rackers are helping students develop the skills and resume necessary to be successful in the turf and landscape fields. However, both said it is a lot more than just learning how to mow grass.

“A lot of people come in and see all of our equipment sitting in our shop and they think, ‘I can go to school to learn how to mow grass’,” Klatt said. “It’s a lot more than just mowing grass by the time you get the fertility and the pest problems and how to manage all those things. There’s a lot more to it than just mowing.”

For more information about the State Tech Commercial Turf and Grounds Management program, please visit www.statetechmo.edu or follow them on Facebook @statetechctg.

—by Julie Choate

In just its first year, Oak Ridge FFA is already making huge strides by having 50 percent of high school students enrolled in the chapter.

Oak Ridge began building the framework for its agricultural education program a few years ago. With the passage of a bond issue in spring 2018, funds were available to construct a shop, employ an agricultural education teacher and begin the first FFA chapter in school history.

Oak Ridge FFA Advisor Nick Thiele said community support has been overwhelming and student interest has been high. Due to the hard work of a number of people, Oak Ridge has enjoyed a rich tradition of academic excellence and successful student activity programs.

“Our high school has been in existence since 1874, and we have always been a diversified agricultural area,” Thiele explained.

Oak Ridge FFA has already elected officers, established a Facebook page and held its first fundraiser, bringing in $1,100. Chapter members have attended local fairs and FFA Field Day at Barton Research Farm. Oak Ridge has also held a Greenhand initiation event, and the chapter is working to help build members’ SAEs.

A chapter chartering ceremony is also being planned, and members expect to participate in area, district and state contests this spring. Crop research plots on the school farm are in the works for Oak Ridge. And, the chapter hopes to complete both the interior and exterior of its new shop. Plus, the chapter has plans to work with area 4-H leaders, establish a farmers market and volunteer at a therapeutic horsemanship ranch.

Thiele explained that Oak Ridge also hopes to be actively involved in its community and school. The chapter’s goals include using a greenhouse to provide hydroponic vegetables to the school and collaborate with other student organizations to disperse and market their produce. Next year, members plan to volunteer at community clean up events.

The chapter hopes to recruit even more members through an Ag Exploration class offered to junior high students, teaching them about agriculture and FFA. Thiele said FFA members are keenly aware of their role on the school’s campus and in the community to make FFA visible.

“(Members) know their actions and enthusiasm will create some of the best recruiting opportunities,” he explained.

Students said offering FFA at the school is an honor. Chapter President Hayden Seyer and Vice President Dylan Muench are thankful FFA is now offered at their school.

“I think it will be a great benefit for the school because students will be involved in more outdoor activities and will understand the concept of FFA,” Muench said. “It will benefit the school because more students will be involved in many activities in the community.”

Muench wants to help educate others about how food is produced and the purpose of agriculture. He also hopes to focus on his SAE, which includes working on his family’s other local dairy farms, as well as showing dairy heifers.

Seyer said FFA is a great addition for their school and relevant to career goals. He also is proud to serve as the chapter’s first president, being an integral part in developing new chapter traditions.

“I want to ensure our FFA builds a solid foundation during our first year,” Seyer said.

In addition, Seyer knows that FFA opens opportunities for students to become involved. FFA has allowed him to build on skills he learned in 4-H. He also is able to showcase his role on his family’s row crop and beef cattle operation through his SAE.

“I’d like to thank my parents, and the parents of my fellow members, as well as our school administration and board of education for making our FFA chapter a priority, he said. “We are lucky to grow up in such a great community.”

—by Alison Bos Lovins

Missouri FFA has had a rich history with the American Star Awards program, with winners in the Star Farmer category dating all the way back to 1932. FFA members with exceptional supervised agricultural experiences (SAE) are eligible to receive the Star Farmer, Star in Agribusiness, Star in Placement or Star in Agriscience awards during the National FFA Convention and Expo each year. Winners from the state competition advance to compete nationally among other elite FFA members from across the nation.

Missouri FFA Todayrecently caught up Scott Hill and Derek Lowrey, both past recipients of American FFA Star awards, recognizing the success of their supervised agricultural experiences (SAE). For Hill and Lowrey, much of that success during their FFA careers can be attributed to perseverance, hard work and dedication. Read on to learn more about their award-winning projects.

SCOTT HILL

A former member of the Miller FFA Chapter, Scott Hill received the American Star Farmer award in 2005. Hill originally began his SAE project with just a couple steers, which he soon sold and took up riding and breaking colts. Over his high school career, he expanded his diversified project to include nearly 40 horses, more than 100 head of cow-calf pairs and 200 head of roping steers.

Hill developed the project mostly on his own. Growing up, Hill’s family didn’t have a big farm, but he had other plans. He set a goal to have a large farming operation, however he didn’t have the means of beginning without financial assistance from the bank.

“From that point on, I figured I was young and if I was going to go broke, I would be better off going broke as a young kid,” Hill said. “I wanted to take the risk while I was still young enough to put in the long hours, work hard and try to make it work.”

Hill’s project became successful, bound by daily hard work and determination. The uniqueness of such a diversified SAE is what made Hill stand out in the national competition.

Hill remembers being told to never be afraid to take risk, and he advises FFA members to do the same.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it,” he says. “Just because somebody doesn’t think it’s going to work, don’t let that dictate whether you try it or not. I strongly believe anybody can make something successful if you are willing to put in the time and effort.”

Today, Hill runs 700 momma cows, backgrounds calves and recently opened a feed store in Mount Vernon. He credits a lot of his success today to the lessons he learned during FFA.

“Growing up, I took some risks, lost some money, made some money and won several awards, but that risk and the goals I had trying to win those awards has helped me to keep setting goals and taking risks throughout life,” Hill said. “That’s helped me get to where I am at today.”

DEREK LOWREY

Derek Lowrey had a completely different kind of SAE project, which led him to receive the 2008 American Star in Placement award. Lowrey, a former member of the Trenton FFA Chapter, worked on a neighbor’s dairy farm, just five miles from where he grew up. He began working on the dairy his freshman year, doing odds and ends. Lowrey eventually started working full-time on the farm as he became more familiar with the operation.

“I was there a long time and treated it like it was my own operation,” Lowrey said. “I took a lot of pride in what I did.”

Aside from working on the dairy, Lowrey farmed with his dad in high school. He started renting a few acres his junior year to expand his own row crop operation, along with backgrounding beef cattle, which is what he continues to do today.

“Today, I’m pretty blessed,” Lowrey said. “I farm with my dad and my younger brother. [After college] everything just clicked. We were able to rent enough farm ground that I was able to basically farm full time.”

Lowrey’s success with a placement SAE project is due to his willingness to learn and a patient attitude. He advises FFA students to be open minded and focus on what is best for their particular project.

“You’ve got to worry about what works for you and your operation,” Lowrey said. “You’ve always got to be listening. You’ve always got to be learning.”

—adapted from an article written by Alexa Nordwald for Missouri FFA Today.