Lind-Ritzville FFA Agronomy team qualifies for 10th consecutive trip to Nationals

The Lind-Ritzville FFA chapter has continued their success in the Agronomy contest, by having a team win the state competition and earn a trip to the FFA National Convention for the 10th consecutive year.

The FFA chapter had two teams compete in the state contest on March 23.

The team members who won the competition and will travel to Indianapolis this fall in hopes of bringing back the national title are Madison Harder, Tessa Jantz, Peyton Curtis, Nathan Naught and Camden Smith.

The Agronomy Career Development Event (CDE) is one of 24 CDEs offered through the FFA organization.

In Agronomy, the participants are tested on their knowledge of seeds, insects, soils and crops, while demonstrating skills of problem solving and crop rotation.

At the state contest, all five of the team members placed in the top 10 individually. Harder brought in a third place finish, followed by Jantz with the fourth highest score. Curtis placed fifth, Naught finished sixth and Smith held the seventh highest individual score.

The Lind-Ritzville FFA chapter also had a second team compete in the Agronomy contest. The team finished fifth in the state and the team members are all underclassmen.

The fifth place team members are Abby Gering, Rachel Schell, Alarah Pierce-Pulliam, Lacey Miller and Devin Schafer.

Along with the state Agronomy contest, the Lind-Ritzville FFA chapter also had multiple teams compete in the District contest to earn the chance to compete at the State Convention in May.

In Farm Business Management, the FFA chapter had two teams sweep the top finishes in the contest.

The students competing in Farm Business Management are Kallie Harder, Felicia Ziemer, Naught, TyAnn Tellefson, Alan Field, Pake Taylor and Dane Wahl.

The Farm Business Management CDE is geared towards helping students develop business management skills, while learning to apply economic principles to agriculture and agribusiness.

The Agricultural Sales team is also moving onto state after taking first in the district competition. The team members are Ty. Tellefson, Tara Tellefson, Taylor Kulm and Taylor.

In the Agricultural Sales CDE, students must demonstrate skills in customer relations, advertising and promotion and merchandise displays.

The Lind-Ritzville FFA chapter members continued their success in Districts by having two teams place first and second in Marketing Plan. The students on those teams are M. Harder, Ziemer, Raeann Hoeft, Jantz, Tessa O’Brien and K. Harder.

The Marketing Plan CDE participants create and present a marketing plan, which is for a current agricultural product, supply or service.

The chapter also had a group of members compete in the First Year Member contest to earn a chance to participate in the state contest. The team members are Miller, Kierstin Witt and Aaliyah Yaeger.

The First Year Member CDE is offered in Washington, but they do not move on to compete at the national level. The members take a comprehensive exam about FFA and the agriculture industry, as well as complete a group problem-solving challenge.

Individually, Miller placed second in the Creed Speaking contest and will be moving on to compete at the state level. Members competing in Creed Speaking must recite the FFA creed, and also answer questions about its meaning and purpose.

The Ag Issues team placed second in state and will also move onto the state contest. The team members are Dinah Gadberry, Holly Nygren, Curtis, Schell, Morgan Shields and Erica Leffel.

For Lind-Ritzville FFA, the Ag Issues team is presenting about the Columbia Basin East High Canal.

The Ag Issues CDE is based around the students researching the pros and cons of an agricultural issue and present their findings to the judges.

Rounding out the teams competing in Districts for Lind-Ritzville is the Food Science and Technology team. The team members who worked to earn a fourth place finish are Dusty Kulm, Gering, Yaeger and Grace Greenwalt.

The Food Science and Technology CDE requires students to have an in-depth understanding of food product development and present on food safety issues.