On October 3, 2024, 27 Atlantic FFA members attended the fall contest held at Northwest Missouri State University located in Maryville, Missouri. The members got the opportunity to compete in several different contests and returned with varying results.
The Floriculture Team had 5 members compete placing 1st in the Iowa Division and 5th overall. Team members Rylan Martin placed 11th, Jacquie Freund placed 13th, Journey Saffron 27th, Paislee Klever 41st, and Natalie Smith placed 70th. The Floriculture Career Development Event (CDE) includes three phases: Identification of Plant Materials, Identification of Greenhouse/Floriculture Tools & Supplies, Disorders and Diagnosis, and a General Knowledge Examination. Jacquie Freund said, “It was a fun new experience and I loved meeting new friends and looking at all the pretty flowers.”
This year, the chapter had 5 members compete in the Livestock Evaluation contest, placing 4th out in the Iowa Division and 9th overall. The scores from Atlantic FFA were Miraylie Stuart in 22nd place, Addalyn Sonntag in 51st, Aly Dreager in 65th, Maddy Anderson 76, and Tenley Cappel 108th out of more than 170 contestants. Addalyn Sonntag said, “I felt like it was a great day to do some livestock judging, and I enjoy learning more about judging and getting better at it.”
In this contest, members had the opportunity to display their agricultural knowledge of various livestock breeds. Those who competed had to place breeding and market classes of beef, swine, and sheep, while also doing three classes of oral reasons. The Horse Judging Contest had Atlantic FFA members place 3rd in the Iowa Division and 5th Overall. Team members Kayedance Sturm placed 9th, Callie Rudy placed 15th and Clara Kennedy placed 26th overall.
The Horse judging contest consisted of a 25-question written exam, three halter classes, one performance class, and two sets of oral reasons. The Dairy Foods contest had 7 members compete in the contest placing 2nd in the Iowa
Division and 11th overall. The team was made up of Lola Comes who placed 20th, Dani Bennett in 55th place, Hayden Kleen in 66th, Keston Schmitt in 81st, Hunter Quist in 96th, Braden Wood in 98, and Frank Freund in 101st.
This contest had members try different types of cheese, find the defects in milk, look at milking equipment, and take a written exam. Together they placed as the top Iowa team. Hunter Quist: “I had a great time eating dairy foods like cheese and drinking milk, also, I disliked the written test.”
In the FFA Knowledge Exam, Atlantic FFA placed 2nd in the Iowa Division and 10th overall. Members Lily Johnson placed 7th, Lauren Comes placed 23rd and Mia Kloewer placed 140th overall. This contest consisted of a 100-question written examination covering general FFA knowledge. Lauren Comes said, “I enjoy going to the Northwest [University] to try a new contest that I haven’t done before.”
In the Dairy Cattle Evaluation contest, Dylen Dreager and David Retallic competed in this contest. Dyle placed 24th and David placed 104th even though he did not have time to complete the entire contest. The purpose of the District Dairy Cattle CDE is to enable students to develop skills in dairy animal selection and dairy herd management. They evaluated and ranked dairy animals based on visual factors of selection.
Finally, in the Farm Business Management exam, Atlantic FFA member Jarrett Hansen placed 32nd out of 106 individuals. The Farm Management CDE consisted of an objective test over management principles, record analysis, marketing, budgeting, and farm business organization. Jarrett Hansen said, “It was a really fun time going to a different state to compete with kids I never met.”
