Ashland FFA member Ethan Hilgedick recognized as national proficiency finalist in fruit production

Zip up your blue corduroy and dive in to FFA!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year — FFA jacket season! Though zipping up the blue corduroy is often a student’s first experience as an FFA member, it takes strategy at the chapter level to get them hooked on ag education and FFA.

Sullivan FFA Advisor Travis Kramme says timing is the key to retention.

“This is my 18th year teaching agriculture education, and one thing has been true year after year,” he explains. “The students in my Ag Science I classes who get involved in FFA activities are the same students who are in our program until graduation and become four-year active members in FFA. The Ag Science I students who don’t make it to any FFA activities during that first semester usually don’t come back as sophomores and find other programs and electives to be involved with.”

An important first step in capturing students’ interest is to debunk the myth that ag education is all about “cows and plows,” says Nathan Isakson, Ash Grove FFA Advisor.

Karson Calvin, a sophomore at Troy Buchanan High School and member of the Troy FFA Chapter, agrees that chapters should promote FFA as a multi-faceted organization.

“It’s not just production agriculture, and there’s a diverse range of activities that can fit everyone,” Calvin says.

Recognizing the importance of relationships and tradition also helps capture students’ interest and sense of belonging.

“In a normal year, we have a back-to-school meeting and ag department open house,” says Cord Jenkins, Rolla FFA Advisor. “This is a big event that our officers spend a great deal of time planning. We invite all of our first-year members and their parents to this meeting. It is structured so we have social time on the front and back end of the meeting.”

Jenkins says this helps make new members feel included as an integral part of the program. Calvin agrees that building relationships was one piece he remembered most from his first year in FFA.

“My favorite chapter activities last year were the LDEs and our Friendsgiving,” he says. “I was on our Conduct of Chapter Meetings team, and my favorite part about it was growing closer with my teammates. While training in the spring, we had some funny moments that stick out as I look back at last year. My other favorite activity was our Friendsgiving. It was a fun time as we were playing games, enjoying some good food and becoming closer as a chapter.”

Kramme, Isakson and Jenkins all say they call upon older students and FFA members to help build a sense of community through using student teacher aids, officer mentors or a buddy system.

Calvin adds that honing in on tradition and the advice of other students helps inspire members to get involved.

The theme for the 2021 GROWMARK Essay Contest is: “If you could invent a new technology to improve agriculture, what would it be?” The contest is open to all high school FFA members in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

This is the 28^thyear for the program, sponsored by the GROWMARK System and FS member cooperatives, in conjunction with state FFA leaders, to help young people develop their writing skills, learn about current issues affecting agriculture, and understand the unique role of cooperatives.

Students will describe a problem within the agricultural industry, and a creative way to provide a solution. Students are encouraged to be creative with their ideas, whether or not the solution they propose is currently possible.

Essays will be submitted online at www.bit.ly/GMKEssay2021. The deadline for all submissions is midnight Central time on November 6, 2020. Additional program details have been sent to agriculture teachers and are online at www.growmark.com.

Each state’s winner earns a $500 award and the winner’s FFA chapter receives a $300 award. Four runners-up per state each win $125 awards.

The program is offered annually and many agriculture teachers use it as part of their class curriculum. Past topics have included sustainability, careers in agriculture, and the cooperative principles.

GROWMARK is a regional cooperative providing agronomy, energy, facility planning, and logistics products and services, as well as grain marketing and risk management services, across North America. GROWMARK owns the FS trademark, which is used by affiliated member cooperatives. More information is available at www.growmark.com.

Santa Fe FFA member Jacob Dierking wins State Star Farmer after tackling the challenges of a beginning farmer.

Breaking into the industry as a young farmer comes with its challenges. Missouri FFA’s State

Star Farmer is all too familiar with the hurdles and roadblocks that must be overcome. Jacob

Dierking of the Santa Fe FFA Chapter started this journey through his Supervised Agricultural

Experience (SAE).

“In 2015, I was given an opportunity by two neighboring landowners to start farming, first with a 10-acre field and then another 19 acres on which I grew corn,” he says. “In 2016, I was able to rent 35 acres to grow corn. I also began a vegetable business growing 9 acres of sweet corn with my parents and brother.”

With his sights set on growth, Dierking had to choose between focusing on the row crop or vegetable production side of his business throughout the years that followed.

“In 2017, we expanded to growing 80 acres of sweet corn and 34 acres of green beans,” he says. “In 2018, a neighbor retired, and I was able to rent his farm to grow 83 acres of corn and 39 acres of soybeans. Since I was able to rent more land, I decided to scale back the vegetable production so I could properly manage my row crops. In 2019, another farmer retired, and I decided to sell the green bean equipment so I would have the money to invest in crop inputs.”

By 2019, Dierking was farming a total of 195 acres of corn, 111 acres of soybeans and 25 acres of sweet corn.

While his progress is evident, it wasn’t always easy. Dierking had to overcome many challenges, including one of the most prevalent among beginning farmers.

“One major challenge in my SAE was financially being able to purchase enough equipment to farm efficiently,” he says. “When I began my SAE, I was able to exchange my labor with my grandpa for the use of his machinery. Since then, I have been able to purchase many needed pieces of equipment.”

Overcoming roadblocks has empowered Dierking to pursue a career in production agriculture. After graduating from State Fair Community College, he plans to expand his row crop operation by obtaining more land to rent in the future.

Measurable goals help Hermann FFA’s Megan Schneider earn Missouri FFA State Star in Agribusiness.

Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time oriented. While agricultural education students learn these components of SMART Goals in the classroom each year, Missouri FFA’s State Star in Agribusinesshas seen their effectiveness firsthand. Megan Schneiderof the Hermann FFA Chapterstarted her Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) with the decision to keep back her best show gilt and start a breeding operation to produce higher quality show pigs for the county fair.

“One gilt has now turned into roughly 35 sows, 45 laying hens and some beef cattle,” Schneider says. “We started out farrowing sows and selling some of the pigs to local kids to show at county fairs. However, there started to be excess pigs around the farm, so we decided to start selling whole and half pigs for people to butcher themselves.”

Schneider’s operation continued to grow, exposing the need for expansion and diversification.

“As my production increased, it started to exceed local demand, and I needed to expand my markets,” she says. “With the help of my family, the decision was made to start selling at farmers markets and other retail outlets. At the markets, I engage with customers and answer any questions they might have about my products.”

As her SAE evolved, so did Schneider’s goals.

“There have been many goals set for this SAE,” she says. “The first goal was to raise lean and high-quality pork to sell to our customers. Also, to ensure our pigs have high cutability, but, at the same time, they are able to have a high success rate in the show ring.”

With each goal she reached, Schneider set new, higher goals to encourage additional growth. Other goals set included expanding her number of sows to keep up with product demand and creating new flavors and products to retain current customers and attract new ones.

Schneider’s SAE growth has inspired her to pursue a career in the industry. She plans to attend East Central College in Union, Missouri before transferring to the University of Missouri with the goal of earning a masters degree in biochemistry. In addition to beginning a career in agriculture, Schneider hopes to continue the family farm to provide a premium protein product for families to enjoy.