FFA members are shining bright
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 02/18/2010 11:24 AM
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SARGEANT, Minn. — Bryce Johnson says he may have fallen through the cracks were it not for the support of his FFA adviser and his family.
Johnson transferred from Dover-Eyota schools to Hayfield schools when he was a sophomore. He got to know Hayfield FFA adviser and agricultural education teacher Nathan Thompson, who encouraged him to join FFA and participate in ag ed classes.
"I can see kids that I think will benefit from the program," Thompson said. He said he slowly gave Johnson bits and pieces of information that he needed to make a decision.
"I wanted to get into farming and it seemed like FFA would help that," said Johnson, 18, now a Hayfield High School senior.
Johnson joined FFA as a sophomore and has flourished in the program. He served as a chapter officer and has participated on career development event teams that have competed at the state FFA convention. Last year, he placed in the top 10 individually in the dairy foods CDE. The team placed fifth.
This year, Johnson plans to once again compete on the dairy foods team and he will also be honored as Region 8 Star Farmer. He will learn at the state convention if he is the state Star Farmer.
"I hope to finish in the top four for the state Star Farmer," he said.
Last year, Hayfield FFA member Jared Franke was the state Star Farmer. Thompson has had one star farmer and five runners up in his 20 years of teaching high school ag and advising FFA.
Johnson's supervised agricultural experience started with a Scottish Highland cow and calf his uncle purchased for $800 in 2006. He has grown the herd to 11 head of commercial cattle, including crossbred Highlands and Holsteins.
In 2006, Johnson traded labor for feed. He has some receipts that date to 2006 in the thick binder that contains his state FFA degree application and supporting documents, including receipts from the cooperative and the sales commission.
Johnson has always kind of wanted to take over the family farm that has been in the family since the 1860s. His great uncles, Wayne and Lowell, live on the original farmstead.
He set about growing his business, learning about cattle nutrition and marketing along the way. He learned it was essential to provide his stock with mineral blocks and tubs for essential minerals. He learned he could earn $2 more per hundredweight by selling "all-natural" beef through the Lanesboro Sales Commission.
In 2009, he rented 40 acres from his grandfather, Neil Johnson, and he hopes to rent it again this year.
He also purchased a 1978 John Deere 4400 combine from a consignment sale in Floyd, Iowa. He used the combine to do some custom combining in the fall.
"Mr. Thompson's the one who really pushed me to pursue what I've been doing out here as an SAE," Johnson said.
He decided to use his operation as his SAE, and has drawn upon his own experiences and the expertise of others to make decisions.
He consulted with Thompson and the cooperative on seed varieties before sitting down with his father, Wesley, to make the final decision on what to plant.
His father gave him a loan to put in his 2009 crop. Johnson paid his father back when he sold his soybeans.
He kept his oats and corn for feed. He's debt-free and saving to put in his 2010 crop.
His uncle gave him the straw from his oat crop in exchange for combining. He's selling straw for $2.50 a bale.
His uncle Lowell taught him to weld and he's honed those skills in ag ed classes. He uses his welding talents to turn rebar and old shovels into yard and garden art.
"He does a very nice job," Thompson said. "He can see things then apply it to his own needs."
Johnson said his FFA experiences have helped him develop leadership skills and more initiative to get things done on time.
He has learned the importance of preventative maintenance from his uncles, grandfather and other area farmers who have offered advice.
"In this day and age, if you don't have family support, you're not going to get anywhere," Thompson said.
After graduation, Johnson plans to attend South Central Technical College in North Mankato. He may transfer to a land grant after earning his two-year degree or he may return home to farm.
His goal is to take over Johnson Farms from his uncles and grandfather. He plans to farm a 1,000 acres and raise beef cattle.
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ADAMS, Minn. — Lucas Schaefer isn't afraid to work hard.
The Southland High School senior and FFA member hauls five loads of hogs a week to Hormel in Austin for Triple S Farms.
He rises early in the spring and fall to load and truck hogs before coming to school. In the winter, he loads hogs after school. In the summer, he hauls a load each morning. Schaefer took over a trucking business from his brother, Jared, when he was sophomore. He hauled 9,200 hogs to market that year for his father, Mark.
In 2009, he hauled 18,360 hogs to Austin. He hauls 63 hogs at a time in his 34 foot long by 8 foot wide trailer pulled by a 2005 Dodge Ram 3400. He bought the truck in January 2009.
Schaefer has also rented a barn to raise hogs himself, raising 600 hogs in 2008 and 300 in 2009.
His entrepreneurial spirit, work ethic and knowledge have earned him the Region 8 Star in Agribusiness award.
Schaefer said he's learned more about running his business through FFA. He's learned the definition of financial terms and also the importance of keeping up-to-date with record keeping.
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ADAMS, Minn. — At 18, Karsen Ulwelling already has seven years of work experience under his belt.
The Southland High School senior and FFA member started working for his brother, Matt, when he was 11 years old.
The boys had three lawn mowing clients. Now, the business has grown to a lawn, landscaping and snow removal company, Turf Solutions, servicing nearly 60 contracts.
Along the way, Ulwelling has used FFA as a vehicle to achieve with his business activities.
He won the landscape management proficiency at the state FFA convention last year and earned a gold rank from the national FFA. This year, he is submitting a turf management proficiency in addition to his state FFA degree application.
He has already been named the Region 8 Star in Placement.
The state degree application took more than 40 hours to put together, Ulwelling said. The application itself is 28 pages and there are several pages of supporting documents, including letters of recommendation, a resume, timecards and photographs of him at work.
Ulwelling said his FFA adviser, Kevin Brown, was helpful in advising him on the application, reminding him to write as an ag teacher would want to read, including plenty of facts and numbers.
Brown said Ulwelling had an extremely good work ethic on the application and Schaefer worked harder as the deadline approached.
Ulwelling said FFA has given him more confidence in the real world. FFA has also rewarded him for hard work.
He didn't have a lot of confidence, though, after he came out of the first interview with judges in his region star competition. He felt even worst after the second interview, Ulwelling said.
It was shocking when he learned he was the Region 8 Star in Placement.
Both Ulwelling and Schaefer will be fine tuning their applications in the next month and working with Hayfield FFA adviser Nathan Thompson to prepare for interviews. Brown will work with Bryce Johnson, the Region 8 Star Farmer.
"I don't feel fully prepared yet," Ulwelling said.
The FFA members will need to be able to rattle off numbers from their businesses and convince the judges they know and understand what is in their application.
Both Schaefer and Ulwelling saw opportunities in FFA and in the business world and they took advantage of it, Brown said. Their family members encouraged them and offered support, but in the end it came down to the boys themselves.
"It has to be something you want to do," Ulwelling said.