Sleepy Eye FFA Members attended the Little International Contest at SDSU in Brookings, SD on Friday, April 1. The members of the Dairy, Meats, Milk Quality, and Poultry included: l to r – front- Rachel Portner, Lucia Martinez, Gracie Sellner, Katelyn Capacia, Megan Sellner, Rylee Jennisen, Jace Schauman, Alex Confer, Yuri Fernandez. Back – Adam Johnson, Isaac Lendt, Jacob Schultz, Winsten Nienhaus, Emma Fischer, Noah Rossbach, Gavin Fischer, Trevor Rathman.
The Horse Team from Sleepy Eye attended the Little I Competition at SDSU. They include: l to r – Jasmine Peterman, Leah Kucera, Sydney Zarn, Sophie Gustafson.
Twenty-one members of the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter attended the Little International Contest in Brookings, SD at SDSU on Friday, April 1. They competed in the Dairy, Horse, Meats, Milk Quality & Products, and Poultry Contests.
The Poultry Team placed first in the Little I Competition! Team members included: Adam Johnson, Isaac Lendt, Winsten Nienhaus, and Noah Rossbach. The Poultry CDE involves judging chickens and turkey carcasses, eggs, processed poultry, chicken parts identification, and taking a poultry knowledge test. Adam Johnson took 1st in the Little I Contest and Isaac Lendt took 2nd.
Identifying off flavors in milk, identifying cheese and its characteristics, identifying dairy and non-dairy products, and a knowledge test were all parts of the Dairy Products contest at SDSU. The Sleepy Eye team placed ninth in the contest out of 31 teams. The team members included: Megan Sellner, Jace Schauman, Rylee Jennisen, and Katelyn Capacia, who was the highest scorer on the team placed seventh overall.
For the Dairy Contest, Gracie Sellner, Lucia Martinez, Jacob Schultz, Emma Fischer, and Rachel Portner evaluated several classes of Brown Swiss and Holstein dairy cows and heifers as well as a pedigree class where they judged cows based on their records and a sire selection class where they chose the best bull for their cows. Their team placed twelfth out of 36 teams and Gracie Sellner was the highest scorer on the team.
The Meats contest was composed of identifying meat cuts by type (Beef, Lamb, Pork), wholesale, and resale. The meats team also evaluated pork carcasses and judged classes of cuts of meat. Yuri Fernandez, Alex Confer, Trevor Rathman, and Gavin Fischer judged Meats at Little I. The team placed 17th out of 41 teams. Yuri Fernandez was the highest scorer on her team.
For the Horse CDE, members judged halter classes (mares and geldings) and took a knowledge test on horse breeds, colors, markings, tack, and more. Sophie Gustafson, Leah Kucera, Sydney Zarn, Jasmine Peterman were the Sleepy Eye FFA Team members. Sophie Gustafson was the high scorer for the Sleepy Eye Team.
On Friday, April 8, the Meats and Dairy Teams competed at the Region VI Contest in Brookings, SD. The dairy team placed first in the contest! Team members included: Gracie Sellner, Lucia Martinez, Jacob Schultz, Emma Fischer, and Rachel Portner. Individually, Gracie was the first place winner, Emma was sixth, Rachel was tenth, and Lucia was twelfth.
The meats team placed ninth. Team members included: Yuri Fernandez, Alex Confer, Trevor Rathman, and Gavin Fischer. Yuri was the top scorer on the team. Both the Dairy and Meats teams advanced to state!
The members in Dairy, Meats, Milk Quality, and Poultry will be competing soon at the State Convention in the twin cities. This was a great opportunity for them to test their knowledge and skills to prepare for upcoming contests.