At the 89th National FFA Convention currently underway in Indianapolis, Evan Smith of the Bloom Carroll FFA Chapter made the top four of extemporaneous public speaking, one of the more unique and challenging of the public speaking events. He finished third in the nation.
Ohio Ag Net’s Joel Penhorwood spoke with Smith about the honor and his preparation for the finals in this video.… Continue reading
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In mid-September, the West Holmes FFA Chapter sent their Dairy Judging team to compete in the Eastern States Exposition (Big E) in Springfield, Massachusetts. The team placed 4th in the state last year and qualified to compete there.
The team consists of William Hughes, Logan Schlauch, Regina Miller, Alyx Morris, John Hughes, and Mikey Kick. While competing the members take a test, judge cows, participate in a team activity, and give oral reasons.
Individual placings were: William Hughes 14th, Regina Miller 15th, Alyx Morris 18th, and Logan Schlauch 21st. The team placed 3rd overall.
Congratulations to the West Holmes FFA dairy team.… Continue reading
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The National FFA Organization’s 89th annual National Convention & Expo is underway this week from October 19th through the 22nd. This time, it travels back to the familiar home of Indianapolis, Indiana. The return follows a multi-year stretch in which the convention moved back to its former home of Louisville, Kentucky through 2015. Indianapolis will now be the host city through at least 2024.
A growing organization is partially the reason behind the change back to our neighbors in the west. The National FFA Organization currently boasts a new record-high student membership of 649,335, a 3% notch higher than just a year before.
Well over 60,000 of those students are expected to be lining the streets of Indianapolis in blue corduroy jackets. As those students gear up for a busy week ahead, we take a look back at the change the organization’s biggest event has seen down the years, as well as what lies ahead.… Continue reading
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As usual, Ohio FFA will be well represented at the 2016 National FFA Convention. Here is a list of Ohio participants to watch for this week.
American FFA Degrees – 345
American Star Farmer Finalist – Evan Schaefer, Miami Trace
National Officer Candidate – Matthew Klopfenstein, Wayne Trace
Honorary American Degrees
Jo Heather Arnett, Hillsboro
Kevin Blakley, Fairfield
Joseph Boff, Columbus
Dan Fulk, West Salem
Harold Karcher, Richwood
Patrick Lynch, Columbus
Ronald Overmyer, Oak Harbor
Dave Stiles, New Philadelphia
Tim Turner, Baltimore
National Proficiency Award Finalists
Agricultural Mechanics Design and Fabrication – Luke Durbin, Indian Valley
Agricultural Mechanics Repair and Maintenance-Entrepreneurship – Reed Aller, St. Marys
Agricultural Mechanics Repair and Maintenance-Placement – Ross Homan, Ft. Recovery
Agricultural Processing – Brandon Palmer, Firelands
Agriscience Research Plant – Mariah Cox, Zane Trace
Beef Production-Entrepreneurship – Curtis Harsh, Buckeye Valley
Dairy Production-Placement – Cameron Mizer, Ridgewood
Diversified Crop Production-Entrepreneurship – Brice Walker, East Clinton
Goat Production – Olivia Congrove, Zane Trace
Landscape Management – Shaun Wenrick, Anna
Poultry Production – Riley Evans, Miami Trace
Sheep Production – Lindsay Shell, Blanchester
Swine Production-Entrepreneurship – Nole Gerfen, Ridgemont
Swine Production-Placement – Mitchell Kramer, New Bremen
Vegetable Production – Frank Becker, Smithville
Wildlife Production and Management – Tyler Stewart, East Clinton
National Chapter Award-Models of Excellence Finalists
Felicity-Franklin, Houston, Miami Trace, Ridgemont
National Chapter Award-Models of Innovation Finalists
Community Development – Bowling Green, Ridgemont
Chapter Development – Ridgemont, Versailles
Student Development – Northwestern(D3)
Two-Star Chapters – Benjamin Logan, Newton
Three-Star Chapters – Anna, Black River, Blanchester, Bowling Green, Cardington, Clear Fork Valley, Covington, Crestview-Ashland, Elgin, Fayetteville, Felicity-Franklin, Houston, Hardin Northern, Kenton, London, Lynchburg-Clay, Marysville, Miami East-MVCTC, Miami Trace, Mowrystown, North Union, New Bremen, Northwestern(D3), Peebles, Ridgemont, Versailles, Wauseon, Zane Trace
National Agriscience Fair Finalists
Animal Systems Division 1 – Jessica McWatters, Pettisville
Animal Systems Division 2 – Olivia Pflaumer, Zane Trace
Animal Systems Division 3 – Rachel Lokai and Natalie Zerkle, A.B.… Continue reading
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Fourteen Anthony Wayne FFA members competed in the District 1 Agricultural and Urban Soil Judging CDE. The agricultural soils team consisted of Haley Schmersal, Madison King, Nicole McMullen, Dylan Stall, Kelly Rice, Morgan Fairchild, Patrick Wright, and Taylore Harman. The urban soils team consisted Kennedy Shartzer, Paige Miller, Lily Hassan, Carter Holck, Laura Caswell, and Maggie Burkett. The ag soils team placed 6th in their division and the urban soils team placed 8th in their division. Haley Schmersal placed 11th as an individual in the ag soils division and and Laura Caswell placed 17th as an individual in the urban soils division. Dylan Stall said “It was my first year competing and I learned a lot about types of soil. ”
It was a successful competition and the chapter plan’s to compete again next year.… Continue reading
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You will not want to leave Indianapolis without taking part in these five things
The 89th National FFA Convention & Expo will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 19 to 22. The four-day convention is an unforgettable experience for students who attend. FFA members from across the nation come together once a year to celebrate their achievements and become motivated for what’s next. This year Indianapolis will be packed full of opportunities for attendees to engage in including general sessions, motivational keynote speakers, tours, concerts, service projects and more.
Navigating the sea of blue corduroy jackets at convention can be a little overwhelming at times. Listed below are five “must-see” experiences you will want to do before leaving the 89th National FFA Convention & Expo.
Download the National FFA Convention & Expo mobile app
Available on iOS and Android, this brand new and engaging app is a must have for convention and is a free download.… Continue reading
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In late September, the West Holmes FFA Chapter sent 27 members to Watchels Farms for the annual 5th grade farm tour.
Members participating were Kerrin Fair, Whitney Miller, Juanita Miller, Marris Hoffee, Taylor Feikert, Becca Vales, Thane Kaufman, Erik Hanna, Michael Klein, Mikey Kick, Sarah Sprang, Marissa Lamp, Chris VanSickle, Abby Rohr, Drew Mast, Jarrett Snow, Regina Miller, Aylx Morris, Tyler Lyons, Jaeden Roloff, Mosey Schlabach, John Hughes Hailee Carter, Cade Patterson, Jake Mullet, Jake Napier, and Austin Reining.
At the tour the officer team split up into two groups. These two groups were part of the stations the 5th grade classes visited. They taught them about livestock safety and farm safety. The rest of the members split into pairs and served as group leaders to guide them around the farm.
After each class had go through each station they watched a demonstration on PTO safety and ate their lunch before heading back to school.… Continue reading
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In early October, the Oak Hill FFA traveled to Hocking College to compete in the State Forestry CDE judging. The competition required students to participate in timber cruising where students are required to identify ten different types of trees, the diameters of the tree, number of logs you can get out of that tree, and then determine the amount of board feet, in addition to the value per tree. Additionally, students were to identify the tree by their leaves and to determine what type of lumber was used to create specific wooden projects. Students then have to identify modern forestry harvesting tools and equipment. The students who attended this event were as follows: Michael Adkins, Chase Dickens, Owen Greene, Josie Hackney, Connor Hughes, Morgan Lahrmer, AJ Meldick, Bailey Ward, and Lane Wright. These students competed against other FFA chapters from all over the state of Ohio, and finished in the top 25 in the state, and as a reminder there are over 300 FFA Chapters in Ohio.… Continue reading
Read More »It was a beautiful, brisk morning in early October on the Fairfield County farm of Walter Bader for the 
2016 Ohio FFA state soil judging competitions.
In agricultural soils the top five individuals were:
The top five teams in agricultural soils were:
1. Greenfield McClain
2. East Knox
3. Fredericktown
4. Talawanda
5. Buckeye Central High School.
In urban soils the top five individuals were:
The top five teams in urban soils were:
The October 2016 Miami East-MVCTC FFA Member of the Month is Anna Puthoff. She is the daughter of James and Cheryl Puthoff of Conover. She is a sophomore and first year member of the Miami East-MVCTC FFA Chapter.
Anna recently participated in the county and district rural soils Career Development Event. Her scores helped the team place in the top 20 teams in the district. Anna also attended the State Greenhand Conference at Versailles High School.
Every month of the school year the Miami East-MVCTC FFA will select a student to be the FFA Member of the Month. The officer team will nominate one student that has been actively involved in the FFA chapter, school and community activities. If selected, the member will be recognized at the monthly FFA meeting, have their picture displayed in the Miami East Ag Room, and will receive a special accolade in celebration of their accomplishment.… Continue reading
Read More »The 2016 A-C FFA Environmental and Natural Resources Career Development Event team, consisting of Billy L’Hullier, Bronowyn Cummings, Blair Farmer and Michael Montoney, placed seventh in the state of Ohio in this very challenging Career Development Event area.
The Environmental and Natural Resources Management CDE is a team oriented contest with four members working together to solve different problems and perform different tasks related to natural resources management. In addition, the team must make a presentation about an environmental topic to a panel of judges. Currently, this is an invitation-only CDE.
To participate, a chapter must have a CDE team place in the top 5 in the state of Ohio in any of the following contest areas: Forestry, Rural Soils, Urban Soils, Nature Interpretation or Wildlife Management.
This is the eighth year the chapter has placed in the top ten in the state of Ohio, winning the state contest two times.… Continue reading
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On Wednesday September 28th, four Anthony Wayne FFA officers attended the Ohio FFA Legislative Leadership Conference.
To begin the conference, several representatives from Ohio Farm Bureau taught the FFA members about lobbying, bills, and government relations. After listening to the speakers, FFA members participated in an activity that taught them about the roles of legislators and lobbyists. Once the activity was complete, members were released for a break and self-directed tour of the Ohio Statehouse before lunch. District 2 Senator Randy Gardner joined the Anthony Wayne FFA members for lunch, and shared about his journey to the senate. His aide also shared advice about pursuing a career in government. After lunch, Senator Gardner gave the Anthony Wayne FFA members a tour of the state house, that concluded with a visit to the senate chamber where the students sat in the senator’s personal chair.
The conference ended with remarks from Senator Troy Balderson, Ohio FFA President Mary Buehler, and Ohio FFA Vice President-At-Large Ryan Matthews.… Continue reading
Read More »The greenhand members of the Madison-Plains FFA chapter joined together on Saturday,
October 1st to meet their officer team and receive their FFA Jackets.
The cost of the jackets was partially paid for by the chapter as a gift for these members, for whom without the chapters future is unknown.
Kameron Rinehart, Ohio Vice President at Large spoke to the greenhands and their parents about the benefits and importance of the organization. The officer team is excited to see its newest members accell and develop into tomorrow’s leaders.… Continue reading
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Members from the Miami East-MVCTC FFA Chapter were recently challenged to participate in the annual Chapter Corn Contest. The rules of the contest were to bring in one ear of corn and earn a corn-related prize. All participants got a can of soda pop because corn syrup is a major ingredient. Overall winners were presented an FFA T-shirt from the FFA Chapter.
A winner is chosen based on the predicted yield of the corn. The grand prize winner was determined by the highest yield estimate, based on plant population per acre. Agriculture Education students in plant and animal sciences took time in class to figure the predicted yield of corn ears as part of their continuing education of agronomy.
The overall winner was Kearsten Kirby. Her corn was predicted to yield 327 bushels to the acre with a 34,000 seed population per acre. Second place went to Alyssa Westgerdes who presented an ear of corn that is predicted to produce 279 bushels per acre with a 30,000 seed population per acre.… Continue reading
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The Buckeye Central FFA chapter competed in the District 2 soil judging contest on Sept. 27.
In the urban contest, BC placed second out of 16 schools with an overall score of 2576.
Sophomore Mason Stahl placed first on the team with a score of 900. Stahl was also placed second individual out of a total of 70 individual students competing.
Junior Makayla Aichholz and junior Kendra Stahl tied for second on the team and 6th overall individuals, both scoring 838.
Rounding off the team was junior Jared Clark with a score of 832 which put him in 9th place as an individual.
“I’m excited that I was able to compete and could help the team move on to state,” Clark said.
The rural team placed fourth out of 19 teams with a score of 2576.
Placing first on the team was sophomore Madi Diesch, with a score of 898. Diesch was the fourth ranked overall judger out of 84 total participants.… Continue reading
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On September 20th, several Anthony Wayne FFA members took a field trip to the Sunshine facilities in Maumee. To begin the field trip, the classes toured Sunshine’s barn and greenhouse, while learning about volunteer opportunities. After the tour, the classes split up and began different activities. The Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources II and Genetics classes worked with the residents of Sunshine to build their own hydroponics systems out of gallon jugs. They will be growing basil and lettuce in these systems. Madelynn Mangold said “My favorite part was helping the residents and seeing the smiles on their faces when they knew that they were going to be able to grow their own food by hydroponics”. The Equine & Vet Science and Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources II students cleaned horse stalls in the barn. They also painted and washed ponies to help desensitize the animals so that they are safe for the Sunshine residents.… Continue reading
Read More »The West Holmes FFA Chapter will have four American Degree recipients at the 2016 National FFA Convention. Members Elise Neville, Chris Sprang, Morgan Hoxworth, and Shyann Kick will receive their degrees October 22nd in Louisville. In order to be eligible for the American FFA Degree, members must have the following qualifications: they had to have obtained the State FFA Degree, been an active member for 3 years, have participated in activities on the chapter and state levels, have graduated at least 12 months before the National FFA Convention, have maintained records that express an outstanding supervised agricultural experience program, have earned and productively invested at least $7,500 or have earned and productively invested at least $1,500 and have worked 2,250 hours in excess of class time, and have expressed outstanding leadership abilities and have maintained a high school scholastic record of “C” or better.
Elise Neville worked as an intern at OSU, researching soil and water characteristics and studying on how to adjust plant growth.… Continue reading
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The Madison-Plains FFA Chapter is proud to introduce their 2016-2017 officer team. Each and every one of these members has been chosen to run the chapter for a number of different reasons. Whether it be there skills in leadership or their undying dedication to the chapter, each of these members have special skills chosen to help push the chapter to new heights. This year’s officer team includes; President, Morgan Hunter, Vice President, Jacob Petee, Secretary, Elizabeth Macdowell, Treasurer, Alexis Zaweski, Reporter, Madeline Manning, Student Advisor, Ian Richards, Sentinel, Dillan Rice, and Historian, Haylee Henry. The assistant officers are, assistant treasurer, Martina Miller, assistant reporter, Mackenzie Wilson, assistant secretary, Courtney Cress, and finally the Program of activities director, Sarah Depugh.… Continue reading
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On September 6th, six Anthony Wayne FFA members attended the Fulton County livestock judging competition at the Fulton County Fairgrounds. During the event the competitors were required to rank different species of livestock ranging from cattle to swine. They judged the animals based on their muscle quality as well as structural correctness. This event gave members a look into what it takes to properly evaluate the animals for market. The Anthony Wayne FFA team consisting of Nicole McMullen, Tayler Common, and Lila Common placed first in the high school team division. Tayler also placed second as an individual in the high school division.
Common said “It was very fun and I learned a lot about livestock”. Overall, it was a successful competition, and was an excellent opportunity for students to begin preparing for the FFA general livestock contest in the spring.… Continue reading
Read More »A visitor from The Ohio State University came to help the Madison Plains FFA chapter in a student teaching activity. David Jenner, Northeastern FFA alumni is majoring in Agricultural Education at The Ohio State University.
During his time in the FFA Jenner was a very active participant. He received his State Degree, and this fall he will receive his American Degree at the 89th annual National FFA Convention. Jenner said he can see that the ag industry growing, more people are needed to educate the upcoming generations entering the industry.
He wants to give back to the organization that helped him become the person today. When asked what message he wants to leave for the chapter members, Jenner replied with a very simple, yet meaningful message, “Don’t take the FFA for granted.” He explained the significance the organization has made in his life and encourage everyone to get involved and allow the FFA to do the same for them.… Continue reading
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