Members of the Wessington Springs FFA Chapter Meats Evaluation and Technology Team brought some hefty hardware back to Jerauld County earning a silver placing at the National FFA Convention with individual results including: Carter Gaikowski, silver; Blake Larson, silver; Ridge Roduner, bronze. Braydin LaBore, silver (shown at above right).
Those that earned a trip to the national stage represented the state with class, integrity and passion for agriculture, recognized for months of hard work and preparation as the convention proceedings finished up in Indianapolis.
During their trip, the Meats team toured Purdue University, what FFA Advisor Brady Duxbury said is known as “the Harvard of the ag world.”
That wasn’t the only moment of prestige enjoyed by the Meats team.
“The biggest people in the meat industry from Tyson and Hormel were running the contest. They told the kids competing ‘when you want a job, you call us.’ It’s a huge honor for our local students to be a part of that group and a big deal for those companies to be talking to the future best and the brightest in the meat industry,” said Duxbury of this year’s meats team, adding that the last time a Meats team earned their way to Nationals was 1999.
In addition to rubbing elbows with industry leaders, members of the Meats team attended The Worlds Toughest Rodeo, one of the top five haunted houses in the US and had the rare opportunity to stand on the field of Lucas Oil Stadium.
“Itwasareallyuniqueandinterestingtripandtheopportunities awarded to this team comes down to the work ethic of those kids. Those kids did something that most students didn’t, they put in time and effort,” said Duxbury. “If any group puts in the time and effort like those kids, there are a lot of things coming around the corner for our chapter. It comes down to how truly dedicated you are to perfect your craft. This group was willing to perfect it.”
While the honor goes to the competing team to have earned their trip, this year, Wessington Springs FFA Chapter members (shown lower left) were offered the unique opportunity to pay for a trip to witness the National FFA Convention.
“A lot of our students took advantage of this really incredible experience,” said Duxbury. “They stopped at Butler Cat Manufacturing in Peoria, Illinois to tour the facility and play with that equipment. Then they were able to attend opening session of the convention which is the ‘showiest’ session that FFA has.”
Just shy of 73,000 FFA members from across the country — topping the 69,000 last year — flocked to the convention that featured over 160 vendors and countless opportunities for networking and growth.
“This group of students took a tour at Wood-mizer, a company that builds saw mills, saw a hypnotist show, visited the Indianapolis Speedway and participated in FFA Days of Service, an opportunity for FFA members to give back to hostcity Indianapolis through invasive weed and tree control in a city park,” said Duxbury. “They didn’t have the honor of earning their right to go but with this opportunity of getting a glimpse into this type of experience, they are now more driven to continue to get these types of experiences.”
Duxbury said it’s hard not to be inspired in a place like that: the speakers, workshops and interaction with peers from across the nation make it hard not to be connected. In fact, he said, they haven’t stopped talking about it yet.
Duxbury said that the trip chaperone, Owen Fagerhaug, said it best, “Listen, this is an awesome experience — but you had to pay your way. Next time, earn your way.”