URBANA, Ohio — The Urbana FFA chapter competed in the county agriculture power diagnostic career development event Feb. 7, at Farmers Equipment in Urbana. The team placed third with members Justin Preece and Nick Crumley. The team also placed 10th at the district event Feb. 10 at the John Deere Training Center in Columbus.
Urbana FFA members also competed in the Buckeye Meats Invitational at Ohio State University. The team placed fourth with team members Ashlyn Dunn placing ninth individually, Savannah Copeland placing 12th, Ally Pierce placing 27th, and Taylor Cordial placing 36th.
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SULLIVAN, Ohio — The Black River FFA chapter was represented by Cooper Sprinkle and Eric Cordonnier, Feb. 17, at the district agricultural power diagnostics career development event.
The event was hosted by North Central Ag, New London. Both students earned a first-place finish and will be advancing to the state competition in March.
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ASHLAND, Ohio — Three members of the Crestview FFA chapter participated in sub-district public speaking contest Feb. 14, at Plymouth High School.
Destiny LaFever placed second in the creed speaking contest and received a gold rating. Sierra Schaffer placed first in her prepared speaking category, also receiving a gold rating. Both students advanced to the district contest Feb. 21, in New London.
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PALMYRA, Ohio — The Southeast FFA chapter held a meeting Feb. 9 in the Southeast High School Auditeria.
Member Amber Zavara placed first with her advanced prepared speech during the District Public Speaking Career Development Event Feb. 8. She advances to the state competition March 3.
The 66th annual FFA Parent-Member Banquet is March 22. There will be a student service auction and those with donations to the regular auction can email Ben Campbell at bcampbell@sepirates.org.
This year, three Southeast FFA members are applying for their State Degrees and two for their American Degrees. Four members have had success in their proficiency applications.
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OBERLIN, Ohio— Lorain County JVS FFA members attended the Brunch with a Farmer event at Lorain County Community College, Feb. 10. Students sat with local farmers during breakfast to learn more about their operations and network.
Nicholas Ziegler from Lettuce Heads Aquaponics and Farm, a family run market from Wellington, and Allen Grobe from Grobe’s Fruit Farm from Elyria, were in attendance and spoke about their farms and local experiences.
Students also heard a presentation from local grain farmer, Ken Diedrick, who shared how he is using new technology, such as GPS navigation and drones, to assist him in planting his fields.
Lorain County JVS students that attended were: Sydney Collier, landscape and greenhouse management; Thomas and William Keller, landscape and greenhouse management; Savannah Roby, landscape and greenhouse management; Michael McDonald, industrial equipment mechanics, and Don Sabella, landscape and greenhouse management.
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CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Agriculture students in the food science program at Zane Trace High School completed a study tour that included the Ohio State University meats lab and a bakery/cafe in Columbus.
Dr. Ron Cramer, director of the meat science department, lead students on a tour of the meats lab where they learned the basics of carcass evaluation, saw various methods of meat processing and preservation and discussed career options with the students.
After the meats lab tour, students traveled to Flowers and Bread, a bakery-cafe in Clintonville, where they learned basic bread making skills from Sarah Black, a renowned baker from New York City.
Students made a loaf of foccacia bread and prepared a batch of dough to take home and bake on their own. Black also demonstrated how to make other types of bread.
The Zane Trace FFA held its 40th annual sausage breakfast Feb. 2 in the Zane Trace cafeteria and raising $4,078.
The proceeds from the breakfast after expenses from groceries were donated to Nationwide Children’s Hospital and the Ross County Junior Fair to sponsor trophies for livestock shows. Next year’s event will Feb. 1, 2019.
During the week of the sausage breakfast, members of the FFA Chapter invited elementary students in first and second grades to visit the agriculture classroom for lessons about pigs.
FFA members in the Agriculture Business class designed the lessons for over 240, which were sponsored in part by the Ohio Pork Council.