Colten Havemeier, Dean’s List
Colten Havemeier, President’s List
Madesen Roberts, Dean’s List

The Sleepy Eye Education Association named Sandy Bieto (left) their 2023-2024 Friend of Education.

Beito joins previous award winners Mel Cook and Duke Cook, Arneson Distributing, Dave Vosbeck, Julia Coulson, Darla Remus, Karen Okerman, Shari Hittesdorf, Dennis Mangen, Mary Ann Christensen and Kathy Haala.

Isaac Lendt (right), of the Sleepy Eye FFA, earned all Corn Champions and Overall Best in Show in the Crop Show at the Brown County Fair. He is pictured with Winsten Nienhaus (left), Chapter President, who earned Overall Best in Show for Poultry.

Nolan Weicherding (right), of the Sleepy Eye FFA, earned the Overall Best in Show for Ag. Mechanics at the Brown County Fair with his perfectly crafted cutting board. He is pictured with Lily Kallevig, Chapter Student Advisor (left).

Gracie Sellner, Sleepy Eye Member, earned the Reserve Sr. Champion and Reserve Best in Show Dairy Exhibit Award at the FFA Dairy Show at the Brown County Fair.

40 Sleepy Eye FFA Members worked at the Kiddy Barn during shifts at the Brown County Fair. This is the set up crew. Pictured l to r – front: Kennedi Wersal, Lily Kallevig, Chloe Howe, Alex Confer, Camryn Maher, Lucia Martinez, Noah Rossbach, Kyle Capacia, Jaden Yack. Back: Ellen Windschitl, Isaac Lendt, Winsten Nienhaus, Noemi Rodriguez, Antonio Ruiz, Marcus Martinez, Ari Krzmarzick, Logan Ludewig, McCoy Marti.

Leah Kucera of the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter was the Overall High Point Exhibitor for the Horse Show at the Brown County Fair.

Sleepy Eye FFA chapter members had many different roles at the 2023 Brown County Fair from August 9-13.  The members showcased their crop, mechanics, Ag. literacy, and livestock projects and also helped run the FFA Kiddy Barnyard and FFA shows at the Brown County Fair.

Livestock exhibitors included: Dairy- Sophie Gustafson, Sophie Kyllonen, Rachel Portner, Jared Portner, Gracie Sellner. Beef- Emma Fischer, Isaac Lendt.  Poultry- Winsten Nienhaus. Swine- Olivia Schieffert.

The Sleepy Eye FFA chapter was very successful with their projects. Our members earned a total of $2556 in FFA premium money at the Brown County Fair this year for exhibiting all of these projects. The following are their placings and the resulting champions for exhibitors at the Brown County Fair. 

FFA Dairy Show:   

Gracie Sellner: Reserve Senior Champion and Reserve Overall Best in Show

Sophia Kyllonen: Junior Champion Any Other Breed, Reserve Sr. Champion Any Other Breed, Overall Junior Champion Honorable Mention 

FFA Poultry Show:

Winsten Nienhaus: Champion – Egg Production, Champion Market Pen – Males, Champion Market Pen – Females, Overall Best in Show

FFA Swine Show:

Olivia Schieffert: Reserve Champion Breeding Gilt, Reserve Champion Market Barrow

FFA Crops Show:                                                                                                                     The crops show was a very large competition with over 700 samples. All of the crops will be displayed at the Minnesota State Fair from August 24^th until September 4^th.

 CROP SHOW CHAMPIONS:                                                                                 

Ear Corn: Isaac Lendt

Miscellaneous: Gavin Strong

Oats: Adam Johnson

Shelled Corn: Isaac Lendt

Soybeans: Dillon Gerzsik

Wheat: Conor Strong

Winter Wheat: Adam Johnson

CROP SHOW RESERVE CHAMPIONS:

Ear Corn: Isaac Lendt

Miscellaneous: Kenley Jensen

Oats: Emma Thibado

Shelled Corn: Isaac Lendt

Soybeans: Kyle Capacia

Wheat: Emma Weilage

Winter Wheat: Shea Evers

Overall Crops Best in Show – Isaac Lendt (Ear Corn)

Reserve Overall Best in Show – Isaac Lendt (Shelled Corn)

FFA Ag Mechanics and Ag. Literacy:

The Ag Mechanics division had numerous entries this year including woods, construction, metals, and Ag. literacy projects. Jax Como, Jony Flores, Jacob Fulmer, Jacob Mellen, Jace Schauman, Emerson Johnson, Manny Poplow, Andrew Ramos, Noah Rossbach, Gavin Strong, Caleb Suess, Nolan Weicherding, Emma Weilage, Noemi Rodriguez, Gavin Fisher, Logan Ludewig, Jaelynn Schauman, Yurdia Fernandez, Mateo Moreno, Kennedy Braun, Kaleb Butenhoff, Cole Eckstein, Makayla Strong, and Nathan Rathman had exhibits for Sleepy Eye FFA.

CHAMPIONS:

Mateo Moreno: Construction Champion

Jacob Fulmer: Metals Champion

Jace Schauman: Metals Reserve Champion

Nolan Weicherding: Woodworking Champion (Small Project), Overall Best in Show

Noah Rossbach: Woodworking Reserve Champion (Small Project)

Noemi Rodriguez: Woodworking Champion (Large Project)

Nolan Weicherding: Woodworking Reserve Champion (Large Project)

Cole Eckstein: Ag Literacy Champion (Small Project)

Makayla Strong: Ag Literacy Reserve Champion (Small Project)

Nathan Rathman: Ag Literacy Champion (Large Project)

Kennedy Braun: Ag Literacy Reserve Champion Large Project)

The FFA chapters within Brown County also conducted the FFA Kiddy Barn during the five days of the fair. It was a huge success thanks to the many FFA members from Sleepy Eye, Springfield, and New Ulm who worked shifts during the fair as well as the people who donated animals for the Kiddy Barn. 40 members of the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter participated in helping children have a great experience with baby animals and learning about farm safety and agriculture while at the fair.

The FFA Kiddy Barnyard exhibited newborn farm animals donated by several families including:  Roseview Dairy (Holstein Calf), Port Haven Dairy (Brown Swiss Calf), Stacy Tauer (Angus Calf), and Cold Creek Farms (Piglets).

The FFA Kiddy Barnyard also had an agriculture coloring & activity station as well as a safety carnival. At the safety carnival, FFA members conducted several games with safety questions covering grain, ATV’s, tractors & machinery, animals, and chemicals. The members of the Sleepy Eye chapter had a great time teaching youth at the Kiddy Barnyard about animals and safety as well as showcasing their FFA projects during the Brown County Fair.

This is one of the four groups of Sleepy Eye FFA members that helped out at Farmfest during the week. Pictured l to r: Destiney Dittbenner, Chloe Howe, Ellen Windschitl, Alex Confer, Jaden Yack, Clark Lazatin, Zach Dominguez, Ethan Schwartz, Colton Romberg, Daniel Armstrong, and Marcus Martinez.

From August 1st through August 3rd, FFA members from Sleepy Eye traveled to Farmfest to teach youth and families about various farm safety topics. Set up for the event was July 31st which included putting up the tent and setting up the nine safety stations.

The following 30 members helped with setting up and conducting activities for the week: Daniel Armstrong, Taylor Berkner, Alex Confer, Destiney Dittbenner, Zach Dominguez, Tim Friton, Lydia Helget, Lily Kallevig, Ari Krzmarzick, Ava Kunkel, Carter Lazatin, Clark Lazatin, Isaac Lendt, Logan Ludewig, Travis Mages, Sam Price, Riley Eckstein-Sprenger, Mateo Hornsby, Chloe Howe, Camryn  Maher, Marcus Martinez, Colton Romberg, Robert Romberg, Noah Rossbach, Jaelynn Schauman, Ethan Schwartz, Katelyn Tauer, Kenedi Wersal, Ellen Windschitl, and Jaden Yack.

FFA advisors, Mary Hoffmann, Katie Emmett, and Paul Hendrickx also attended the event along with summer intern McKayla Carlson-Hughes. Throughout the three days that FFA members were present at Farmfest, they were able to educate over 500 youth and their families.

The Sleepy Eye FFA worked with the RedBrownVille Farm Safety for Just Kids chapter which includes members from three counties and sponsorship from AgCountry Farm Credit Services, Farmward/Ag. Quest, Land ‘O Lakes, Redwood Area Chamber Ag. Committee, and Bayer.

The name Farm Safety for Just Kids is a collaboration of Redwood, Brown, and Renville counties who have worked together since 2006 to help inform and prevent injuries and accidents on the farm and around machinery, making the farm a safer place by showing kids the danger of certain situations.

The youth who attended had the opportunity to play nine safety games/demonstrations including Pinch Points (Chains and Belts), Tractor Safety, Auger Safety, Wheel of Misfortune, Plinko (Farm Safety Trivia), Bridged Grain, Gravity Wagon Safety, Chemical Safety, and Tug of War with Grain.

Each kid was given a card that was then marked off at every station. When they had finished going to each station, they were given prizes. The prizes included: water bottles, cinch bags, coloring books, pencils, flashlights, and more.

Sleepy Eye FFA worked alongside the Wabasso, Redwood Valley, and Tracy FFA Chapters. All of the members who volunteered their time at the safety carnival successfully helped inform youth while also making it a fun experience for those who attended.

If you would like to be a part of Farm Safety Just for Kids feel free to contact Mary Hoffmann, FFA advisor at Sleepy Eye Public School.

Seven Sleepy Eye FFA Members attended the CRC Discovery Day. They included: l to r – Zach Dominguez, Clark Lazatin, Ari Krzmarzick, Taylor Berkner, Alex Confer, Kaytlyn Romberg, and Lucia Martinez

On Thursday, July 27, Sleepy Eye FFA Members attended the Career Discovery Day at Central Region Cooperative. The members included: Taylor Berkner, Alex Confer, Zach Dominguez, Ari Krzmarzick, Clark Lazatin, Lucia Martinez, Kaytlyn Romberg. Advisors Mary Hoffmann, Katie Emmett, and Paul Hendrickx were in attendance as well as McKayla Carlson Hughes.

The day started at the main office of CRC with Megan Hoffmann, giving background information on cooperatives and how they operate as well as an overview of CRC and some of the career opportunities and divisions of CRC.

Then it was onto the grain division. Carly showed us the unloading zone, grain bins, and dryer. They gave an overview of the large scale operations of the grain division and how they ship it in trucks and the rail.

The morning continued with the feed division as Brad and Sonya shared information on the roles of the employees in this area, how the mill works, who the customers are, the ingredients in the different feeds, and the automation of the mill.

After seeing all of the divisions near the main office building, we traveled to the CRC site east of Sleepy Eye to the Agronomy division. We heard from sales employees and learned about the customers, acres, territories, and educational paths to sales. We also heard from Jordan in Operations and the guys in the Energy Division. They shared information on the numbers and types of equipment, types of trucks, capacity of the trucks, truck routes, and the different products and where they come from as well as the rail system.

Next, we entered the BCA facility where Al taught us about the many different lawn fertilizers and ice melt products manufactured there. He discussed how they get the bags and ingredients and we saw the bagging automation station. From the machine that weighs out ingredients and fills the bags to the robots that stack the bags on pallets and wrap the pallets, this part of the business was fascinating.

Last, we heard from Brian about the Shop.  The building was incredible and had numerous overhead doors to accommodate all of the different trucks and equipment. There is such a variety of work due to all of the different machines and maintenance on the equipment.

We are very thankful to have had so many of the CRC employees in the different divisions talk to us about what they do in the cooperative and the educational paths available for the various careers there.

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Ari Krzmarzick attended the Summer Welding Class to further develop his MIG welding skills.

Karlie Wendinger (left) and MaKayla Strong (right) made crepes in the Summer Cooking Class.

The students had a lot of fun in the FFA Summer Baking Class. Pictured l to r – Megan Sellner, Callie Evers, and Ava Kunkel made cookies.

The Sleepy Eye Summer Agricultural Education program has been busy over the months of June and July. Along with leadership and tour opportunities, short hands-on classes have been taking place at Sleepy Eye Public School.

Beginning on July 17th, the first of the Summer Ag. Classes began including Cooking and Baking. Through these courses, students learned a variety of cooking and baking techniques and made dishes from crepes to cookies, breakfast and desserts.

Beginning on July 18th, the Summer Welding Class began. In this course, students learned about MIG Welding Safety and Techniques. After making their first weld, students practiced in order to make welding beads and welding joints including butt, lap, and T with different thicknesses of metal.

It is so great for FFA members to come in during the summer to learn new skills or to further develop the skills they have! Total student enrollment for all of the classes was 55 in attendance.

The FFA members will be continuing their involvement this summer with booths at Party in the Park, Farmfest, and Summerfest, as well as county fair and more leadership opportunities.

Sleepy Eye FFA Members that attended the 2023 Region VI Summer Ag Tour visited the Willis Tower.  Pictured l to r – front: Izzy Kunkel, Jose Castorena, Lily Kallevig, Carter Lazatin, Alex Confer, Daniel Armstrong. Back: Chloe Howe, Nolan Weicherding, Tim Friton, Antonio Ruiz, Katelyn Tauer, Ari Krzmarzick, Emerson Johnson.

By: Alex Confer, Chapter Reporter

Thirteen members from the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter participated in the Summer Region VI Educational Tour June 12-14, 2023.  The members attended this trip with FFA advisors Katie Emmett and Paul Hendrickx, and Summer intern McKayla Carlson Hughes as well as the St. James, Mountain Lake, and Tracy FFA Chapters.

The students started out their trip by touring Mystery Cave in Forestville, MN. Later that night, after arriving in Chicago, Illinois, they enjoyed a boat tour that went out into Lake Michigan. Students were able to see the beautiful Chicago skyline and learn more about the architecture of the city.

The second day in the city was filled with several activities. They included a tour of the iconic Willis Tower, previously known as the Sears Tower and they were able to visit the SHEDD Aquarium and do different things like see a dolphin show and pet stingrays. Then later that day they also got to explore Navy Pier.

The third day of the tour was spent in Wisconsin. The students were able to tour Carr Valley Cheese and learn more about the cheese making process. After the cheese plant, members then got to relax and have fun at Wisconsin Dells. They then finished the tour by going to Timbavati Wild Life Park and seeing and experiencing all kinds of wild animals.

Overall, the Summer Ag Tour is an amazing opportunity for FFA members to take advantage of. Students were able to learn more about different areas of agriculture as well as how vast and important the agricultural industry really is.

The Sleepy Eye Ag Program Boosters helped sponsor for the trip and our FFA members truly appreciate their support. This trip would not be possible without them!