Mower County young men are FFA stars
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 02/18/2010 11:23 AM
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Three Mower County young men are the Region 8 FFA stars.
Bryce Johnson, a Hayfield High School senior, is the Region 8 Star Farmer. Lucas Schaefer, a Southland High School senior, is the Region 8 Star in Agribusiness and Karsen Ulwelling, 18, is the Region 8 Star in Placement.
The three were named stars at a Jan. 29 event at Stewartville High School.
It's unique for two stars to come from one FFA chapter, said Southland FFA adviser Kevin Brown. As far as he knows, it's the first time ever that Southland has had two region stars.
Regional stars are the top state FFA degree candidates in the selected fields. Johnson, 18, started a cattle herd with a Scottish Highland cow and heifer calf in 2006. He has grown the herd to 11, including cows, replacement heifers and market animals. He has also rented 40 acres, where he grew 10 acres of corn, 22 acres of soybeans and eight acres of oats last year. His third business venture is welding garden or yard art. He makes birds from old shovels and flowers using rebar and sawblades.
Schaefer, 18, owns his own trucking company, trucking hogs to Hormel for his father, Mark. His brother, Jared, started the business, ran it for three months until he got a better job and then turned it over to him. Schaefer hauls five loads a week and in 2009, hauled 18,360 hogs to the processor. He has also rented a finishing barn and raised 300 head of hogs in 2009.
Ulwelling, 18, started working for his brother, Matt, when he was 11 years old. They had three lawn mowing customers a week when he started. Now the business, Turf Solutions, has grown to 28 mowing customers and 30 snow removal clients, including corporate accounts in Austin. If it snows overnight, Ulwelling rises at 2:30 a.m. or 3 a.m. to push snow before school. After he mows, he always asks the client to take a look and see if they approve or want anything else done.
The next step for all three is to refine their applications and get ready for a site visit to their workplace or farm. In March, two or three people will visit each region star candidate, Brown said. There are up to eight candidates for each star. There is also an FFA star in agriscience, but Region 8 doesn't have one this year.
Then, the applicants will walk on stage at the state FFA convention in April. They will receive a plaque for being a Region 8 Star and the state winner will be announced at the same time.
Brown said it's a tribute to the strong families, good farms and students themselves that they earned the star awards.
The students added their FFA advisers, Brown and Nathan Thompson in Hayfield, to the list of people who helped them become stars.