Growing Traditions - May Edition

- May 17, 2012

2012 National Chapter Rankings Announced

- May 10, 2012

The 2012 National Chapter Rankings have been announced.

Chapters across the state are encouraged to apply for this honor by highlighting chapter activities in the areas of student, chapter and community development. Chapters are judged by a series of individuals on the quality and innovativeness of ideas and accomplishing pre-determined goals.

2012 State CDE Results Streaming Video

State FFA Office - May 01, 2012

Follow the results of the 2012 State Career Development Events online here.

State & National Scholarships Announced

- April 26, 2012

Scholarships are sponsored by businesses and individuals through the State & National FFA Foundation and are given for a wide variety of experiences, career goals and higher education plans. The selection process takes into account the whole student - FFA involvement, work experience, Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE), community service, leadership skills and academics.

2012 State Proficiency Award Winners Announced

- March 22, 2012

Winners in the State Agricultural Proficiency Awards were selected Saturday, March 17th for presentation at the 84th Kansas FFA Convention in Manhattan. Awards were announced for 39 categories.

Food for All Grant Winners Announced

- March 14, 2012

National FFA recently announced funding decisions for the FFA: Food For All grant program. We had an amazing response, receiving 240 applications from 43 states. You can find additional information on the program at www.ffa.org/foodforall.

Through funding from Farmers Feeding the World and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, we were able to fund 140 chapters from 41 states. Just over $330,000 was granted out through the program.

Congratulations to the following Kansas chapters:

Hiawatha FFA - Hiawatha School Garden -- Providing produce to school lunch program as well as the local nursing home is just the beginning for this program. FFA members will educate and collaborate with inter-generational groups to host day camps and other opportunities to educate the community on nutrition and sustainable practices.

Hope FFA - There is Always Hope in Hope's Garden -- In a town where there is no grocery store, the FFA chapter will provide a much needed community garden to offer fresh produce to senior citizens and those with limited transpiration. Two community education days will focus on gardening, care and nutrition.

FFA Names Kansas Student National Star in Agricultural Placement

National FFA Organization - December 08, 2011

While working with his father on his commercial cow and crop production operation, Alex Goeckel of Washington, Kan., became interested in the livestock industry. This interest continued to grow and now has won him top honors.

Goeckel, 21, a graduate of Washington High School in Washington and a member of the Washington FFA Chapter, competed against three other finalists to be named the Star of Agricultural Placement competition at the 84th National FFA Convention Oct. 19-22 in Indianapolis.

Each year at convention, 16 national finalists vie for the organization's top awards - the American Star Farmer, American Star in Agribusiness, American Star in Agricultural Placement and American Star in Agriscience. Four finalists compete in each category. The Star awards honor students who have developed outstanding agricultural skills and competencies, demonstrated high management skills, earned an American FFA Degree - the organization's highest level of accomplishment and met a host of other agricultural education, scholastic and leadership requirements.

Each finalist was interviewed by a panel of judges that ultimately named the winner of each Star award. Winners were revealed during the eighth general session at the national FFA convention on Saturday, Oct. 22, where they received recognition and an educational award of $4,000. Runners-up received $2,000 each.

Goeckel grew up on a swine farm. In high school, he worked for two large swine production operations and his experiences helped him as a student at Kansas State University land a position with the university's Swine Research Unit.

"I've been working at the Swine Research Unit since I was a freshman and have had many responsibilities, including record keeping, feeding, vaccinating, artificial insemination and disinfecting the facility," he said. "I've been trusted with the training of all new student workers and am the person left in charge of managing weekend operations and part-time employees."

Today, as he continues pursuit of a bachelor's degree in feed science, he is serving an internship at Suther Feeds as a sales agent.

The American FFA Degree recognition programs are co-sponsored by Case IH of Racine, Wis.; Farm Credit Systems of Washington, D.C.; Pioneer Hi-Bred of Des Moines, Iowa; DTN - The Progressive Farmer of Omaha, Neb.; and Syngenta of Greensboro, N.C., as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.

Goeckel is the son of Douglas and Teryl Goeckel. He is studying grain science at Kansas State University. His FFA advisor is John Kern.

Formerly known as Future Farmers of America, the National FFA Organization provides agricultural education to 540,379 student members in grades seven through 12 who belong to one of 7,489 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Photo of the Week

If you would like to submit a Photo of the Week please email it to the Kansas FFA at webmaster@ksffa.org

Submit a "Photo of the Week" to webmaster@ksffa.org