Sleepy Eye FFA tours Nova-Tech, learning a bunch of new things about technology in Agriculture! Pictured l to r – Katlyn Romberg, Lee Wahlborg, Alexandria Confer, Gunny Coulson, Lucia Martinez, Emma Contreras-Ramirez, Sean Martin, Morgan Hoffmann, Winsten Nienhaus, Miah Brown, Alex Joramo, Mateo Moreno, Dallas Brazle, Alexys Odegard.
Written by: Leisha Martinez, Chapter Reporter
14 members of the Sleepy Eye FFA attended the Ag Tour Day on Tuesday, July 20, 2021. Students attending included: Dallas Brazle, Miah Brown, Alexandria Confer, Emma Contreras-Ramirez, Gunny Coulson, Morgan Hoffmann, Alex Joramo, Sean Martin, Lucia Martinez, Mateo Moreno, Winsten Nienhaus, Alexys Odegard, Katlyn Romberg, Lee Wahlborg. Advisors attending included: Mrs. Hoffmann, Ms. Emmett, and Ms. Cselovszki. Taylor Peck, summer intern, attended as well.
The first stop was Rustic Designs Flower Farm where they grow specialty cut flowers and offer seasonal inspired wedding designs and educational floral design classes. Rustic designs began in 2011 as a small flower farm and rug studio. Located in a rural central area between two small towns (Belgrade and New London) Rustic Designs Flower Farm offers flower subscriptions, summer picking hours, full wedding designs and setup, design classes, tours and wholesale specialty cuts.
The second stop on the tour day was Nova-Tech. Nova-Tech manufactures and engineers robotics systems that serve the agricultural industry across the globe. We are headquartered on the beautiful and historic MinnWest Technology campus in Willmar, MN. The Purpose for Nova Tech is to create revolutionary solutions that advance our customers’ ability to feed the world. The machines we saw in the making were for the poultry and shrimp industries.
The Louriston Dairy was the next stop, with 9500 dairy cows near Murdock, MN as part of the Riverview Dairy, LLP. The Mission: Providing a culture of opportunity for passionate people and innovative ideas. The Pillars: Integrity, Strong Work Ethic, Keep it Simple, Candor, Spirit of Humility. Over the years starting in the mid-70’s, the vision of an adaptable, integrated agricultural operation continued to grow as more dairy operations, beef feedlots, agronomy systems, and construction crews were added. Today, the company is predominantly owned by Riverview employees who strive to provide a respectful, ethical work environment, ensure animal health and comfort, enhance the productivity of the land, and add value to the communities in which we live and work.
The final stop was at Mr. B’s Chocolate in Willmar, MN. Mr. B’s is a Chocolate shop with four chocolatiers creating a variety of white, dark, and milk chocolate creations including: truffles, caramels, chocolate bars, and numerous chocolate treats and farm animal 3-D chocolates. Dwight Barnes, founder of Mr. B’s, insisted on the finest ingredients — raw chocolate imported from Belgium, homemade marzipan, cocoa butter from France, and dairy cream and butter from Minnesota. The master chocolatiers still use those same ingredients in each Mr. B’s confection. Barnes was also strict about using the process he learned in Belgium. No exceptions. No shortcuts.
It was a day filled with many new experiences and career opportunity pathways including: plant systems, animal systems, agribusiness systems, food products & processing, and power, structural, and technological systems. It is so important for students to know the broad fields and variety of careers available in agriculture.