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Oklahoma student achieves career successTravis Schnaithman named American Star Farmer Oklahoma Travis Schnaithman's love for farming began at a young age. Soon, with a few cows, sheep, a tractor and some land, he was on his way. His desire to farm only increased as he grew older and saw what hard work could accomplish. Now, his dream of farming has earned him top honors. The National FFA Organization has named Schnaithman the 2008 American Star Farmer. Each year at the national FFA convention, 16 national finalists (four per award) vie for the organization's top awards: American Star Farmer, American Star in Agribusiness, American Star in Agricultural Placement and American Star in Agriscience. These awards honor students who have developed outstanding agricultural skills and competencies through their career development programs; demonstrated outstanding management skills; earned the American FFA Degree--the organization's highest level of accomplishment; and met other agricultural education, scholastic and leadership requirements. Each finalist was interviewed by a panel of judges, who ultimately named the top candidate in each area. The winner was announced in an onstage convention ceremony and received a plaque and an award of $4,000. The runners'-up also received plaques and $2,000 each. Schnaithman began his FFA career in 2000 while he was an eighth-grader. He started planning for his farm and soon realized the potential. He soon added more equipment to his operation and diversified his livestock. He began to custom swath and bale hay and also raised natural club lamb prospects. Soon he was also implementing artificial insemination in his cow herds. In 2004, he decided to enhance his A.I. skills and attend the Reproduction Enterprises A.I. School. As a result, he's had success with his conception rates. Along with adding A.I. into his production, Schnaithman was able to add an additional 480 acres of land, and in 2007, added an additional 640 acres of land. After graduation from Oklahoma State University, where he's majoring in agribusiness, Schnaithman plans to return to the farm as a full-time production agriculturist. He also hopes to serve as a voice for American agriculture in the political arena. Schnaithman is the son of Lee and Becky Schnaithman and is a member of the Garber FFA, where his advisor is Mark Sneary. His supervised agricultural experience program led him to apply for and earn the American FFA Degree, in which a student must earn and invest $7,500 or have earned and productively invested at least $1,500 and worked 2,250 hours in excess of scheduled class time. An SAE program is one of three components that make up the agricultural education program. By combining the SAE career entrepreneurship or job placement component with classroom instruction from agricultural education instructors and leadership development from the FFA, students like Schnaithman are able to make a positive impact on their own and others' lives. Awards and recognition for Stars Over America finalists are made possible by the generous support of individual contributors to the National FFA Foundation. 11/3/08 Date: 10/30/08
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