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 24th until September 4th.
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.