Sleepy Eye FFA Excels at Ag. Bowl Contest at SMSU. The Soils Team took first place. Team members included l to r: Oliver Trebesch (1st place individual), Nathan Rathman, Caleb Suess, Wyatt Feucht, and Ethan Feucht.
32 Sleepy Eye FFA chapter members competed in several Career Development Events (CDE’s) and Leadership Development Events (LDE’s) at the SMSU Ag. Bowl on February 2nd, in Marshall including: Companion Animals, Floriculture, Milk Quality, Soils, Meats, Creed, and Fish & Wildlife.
The Sleepy Eye Soils Team placed 1st at the competition this year. For the Soils Contest, Oliver Trebesch (1st place individual), Caleb Suess, Nathan Rathman, Wyatt Feucht, and Ethan Feucht competed for Sleepy Eye FFA. In the soils contest, members judge different soil profiles, and identify soil characteristics, including texture, depths, and erosion potential.
The Floriculture teams earned 2nd Place out of 36 teams for Ag. Bowl. Team members include: Lily Kallevig (3rd), Yanellie Fernandez, Elsie Trebesch, Jose Castorena, Karina Martinez, Kaliya Confer, and Katelyn Tauer. The Floriculture CDE tests student knowledge of flowers and plants, growing media, fertilizer, greenhouse management, design concepts, and the floriculture industry. They also are tested on their identification skills of annuals, cut flowers, greenhouse crops, and floriculture equipment and tools as well as their skills in creating a floral arrangement.
For Milk Quality, the Sleepy Eye Team placed 4th out of 21 teams. Team members include: Megan Sellner (1st place individual), Jaelynn Schaumann, Jace Schauman, Callie Evers, and Ava Kunkel. In the MQ Contest, students identify cheese and their characteristics, identify off flavors in milk, and judge dairy vs. non-dairy products as well as identify their milk fat contents. They also take a knowledge test on dairy production, management, and marketing.
The Fish & Wildlife competitors included: Noah Christensen, Jacob Fulmer, and Robert Romberg. Noah was the top scorer on the team. The Fish & Wildlife contest consists of three parts: identification (mammals, fish, birds, insects, reptiles/amphibians), a knowledge test, and a current events activity on Wildlife Nuisances & Depredation. The team placed 14th out of 37 teams.
The Meats Team members included: Makayla Strong, Nolan Weicherding, Santi Martinez, Ava Sellner, Ethan Schwartz, Davin Suess, and Eli Christensen. Makayla earned top scorer on the Sleepy Eye team and the team was 16th out of 30 teams. For the meats contest, members identify meat cuts by type (Beef, Lamb, Pork), wholesale, and resale as well as their cooking methods.
Other members competed in the Companion Animal CDE. For Vet Science, Anna Johnson, Kenedi Wersal, Natalie Fulmer, Kaylie Fulmer. Anna was the top scorer on the team. The Companion Animal team members were tested on their knowledge of common pets, pet health, vet science terms & skills, and animal anatomy. An identification of different species including: dogs, cats, birds, fish, parasites, rabbits, and other animals kept as pets is also a large part of the contest.
Camryn Maher competed in the FFA Creed Contest. For this competition, the member recites the creed and then answers questions based on their experiences in FFA and how they relate to the meaning of the FFA Creed.
Sleepy Eye FFA is proud to have these students work hard and excel at an Invitational Contest. Congratulations to all of the team members!