Fairmont brought 18 students to state, which ag teacher Nick Pease said was a bit down from last year due to fewer of their teams competing. Three of their teams, Horse Judging, Livestock Judging and Poultry received gold certifications for finishing in the top third of competing teams, finishing 18th, 14th and 14th respectively.

Ninth grader Josey Eisenmenger, who competed in Horse Judging, said preparation was a team effort.

“We helped a lot of our team members to get to where they needed to go and help, like the overall structure of the animal and how you would face the judge,” she said.

Regarding the competitive aspect, Eisenmenger said it can feel like it’s intense at times, but other times that intensity isn’t as strong.

ABOVE: From left, Josie Moeller, Phoebe Madsen and Lynsie Salic got GHEC on the podium with their Market Plan placing third. Other podium finishers included Zoe Hugoson with a third in Equine Science Entrepreneurship, and Addison Barrick’s win in Equine Science Placement. Submitted photo

“It’s just a lot of anxiety,” she said. “You go up there and try your best, and hopefully you did good.”

Through these competitions, Pease said it provides the students with an outlet.

“You’re trying to figure out what makes this animal better from another,” he said. “It’s a life skill too. Let’s say you want to raise steers. Through these competitions, you can start seeing the qualities of a good steer. What should I be looking for? How can I get this animal to grow? When you’re doing poultry, you start to know the difference between a Grade A, Grade AA, Grade B and non-gradable.”

For these students to have beaten two-thirds of state qualifiers, Pease said it is always about how much you practice.

“I like seeing them up that high, because it shows that their practice is paying off,” he said. “That’s their reward for working hard and having that dedication.”

ABOVE: From left, Lillie Schultz, Maddison Lyon, Courtney Anderson and Hayley Clarke combined their talents to get Martin County West a second place finish at State FFA in the Veterinary Science CDE category. Other high placements included a first place for Michael McCorkell in the Business Management CDE and first for Addison Wohlhuter in Ag Communications proficiency. Submitted photo.

Looking forward, Pease said there will need to be a bit of rebuilding.

“We have to revamp our poultry team because everybody on there was a senior,” he said. “For next year, we have a couple kids that did some competitions last fall and into the spring here. With livestock, we’re losing two seniors. That’s going to be another spot where hopefully some of the younger kids are able to step up and get better. Horse, I’m losing one, and hopefully some others will step up and fill some roles on there.”

Granada-Huntley-East Chain (GHEC) had a record-breaking year, with 31 students attending the state convention. GHEC FFA was recognized as a third-place national chapter with a Gold/Superior rating. Addison Barrick and Zoe Hugoson placed first and third in their Equine Science proficiencies. The Market Plan team finished third overall and Poultry and Companion Animal Science finished in the top 15.

Barrick, who is a junior, submitted a 20-page application for her proficiency and beat out 23 other applicants based on her skills in Equine Science Placement. She said her success had a lot to do with life experience.

“My horses, I work with them on a daily basis,” Barrick said. “I do chores every morning, and I think I put in a lot of effort with it.”

In their students’ competitions, ag teacher McKenzie Wagelie said it is all hands-on learning they can use in their futures.

“It can give them ideas of something that they might be interested in or learning something new, just new skills,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that they’re going to end up working in that field, but it gives them new skills to use in their future.”

In the past few years, Wagelie said GHEC FFA has seen tremendous growth. She’s hoping that does not stop anytime soon.

“This is my fourth year here,” she said. “We had 20 members when I first came, and now we’re at about 125. Seeing more kids get involved, seeing our numbers increase and kids wanting to do these things and be the best they can be.”

Martin County West (MCW) had multiple podium finishes, including a first in Farm Business Management by Michael McCorkell, First in Ag Communications proficiency by Addison Wohlhuter, second place by the Veterinary Science Team and third by Hayden O’Connor and Talon Ebeling in the Talent category.

Other gold-placing teams include sixth place in Forestry and Farm Business Management, 13th in Agricultural Mechanics and 16th in Livestock Evaluation and Best Informed Greenhand.

For McCorkell, his competition involves an exam and a practicum where they go over farm financials like balance sheets and income statements. To make it the best of the best across the state took a long period of work for McCorkell.

“I’ve been in the competition for three years,” he said. “Each time we practice about once a week, going over farm statements, past tests, balance sheets, income statements, cash flows, equity, and there’s some grain marketing. I’m pretty happy about it. A lot of hard work paid off.”

There were 36 FFA students who went to state, all of whom were competitors. Having been an FFA leader for decades, Stephanie Wohlhuter said she is driven by student success.

“Seeing the students’ eyes light up and get excited about what they’re doing,” she said. “For me, it’s one of those things that sustains my excitement, enthusiasm for what I’m doing. It’s all about them in the end, and I’m super proud of them. Seeing them put the time in and be rewarded for their work is a pretty great thing to be a part of.”

Wohlhuter said this is one of the strongest years they’ve had since the COVID-19 pandemic, marking a recovery years in the making.

“Bringing kids back was difficult after that, because we tend to see FFA programs build on success from previous years,” she said. “When you take a couple years off from having in-person conventions and kids seeing how excited other kids are when they do well, we struggled for a few years to maintain that engagement. This year, having this number of kids go up and compete and do really well, I can see now it’s got everybody’s wheels turning about what we are going to do next year.”