Kentucky FFA

National Star Finalists

Two Kentucky FFA members have been chosen as finalists for the National FFA Organization's highest awards.

James Lyons of the Scott County FFA was chosen as a finalist for the Star Farmer Award.

Jared Hodskins of the Apollo FFA was chosen as a finalist for the Star in Agriculture Placement Award.

Both students will compete at the National FFA Convention in October for the title of American Star. Congratulations and good luck to James and Jared.

Posted by Matt Chaliff

State Fair Information

The 2010 Kentucky State Fair will be held August 19-29 in Louisville, Kentucky. Click here for information on FFA activities during the Fair.

Posted by Matt Chaliff

ROAR Scheduled for September 17-18, 2010

The 2010 Regional Officer Annual Roundup (ROAR) will be held September 17-18 at the FFA Leadership Training Center in Hardinsburg. All regional officers are invited and encouraged to attend.

Regional Officers are expected to arrive by 6:00 p.m. CDT and should eat supper prior

to arriving. A snack on Friday night and breakfast on Saturday morning will be

provided. ROAR will conclude no later than 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 18.

Attendees should bring bedding, towels, toiletries, etc. Regional officers are not

expected to bring Official Dress. There will be a $10 registration fee which is due upon arrival.

Please complete the Registration Form and return to Matt Chaliff by

August 5^th.

Posted by Matt Chaliff

FFA Supports National Guard Efforts In Afghanistan

Kentucky FFA members, along with other members of the Kentucky agricultural community gathered in Frankfort today in support of one of Kentucky National Guard’s most unique wartime missions. Sixty four (64) citizen soldiers from across the Commonwealth are currently serving in a special Agribusiness Development Team. This unit is helping Afghan farmers develop and implement new agriculture practices that will lead to greater self sufficiency and stability.

The Kentucky agriculture community donated over $6000 worth of gifts, supplies, and other items to support this unit in their efforts. Kentucky FFA donated over $3600 to help purchase supplies which includes gifts for the soldiers and relationship gifts to be used for the Afghan people. The ceremonial presentation was accepted by General Ed Tonini, Adjutant General of the Kentucky National Guard. The items will arrive in Afghanistan in late December.

Twenty six Kentucky FFA chapters made cash contributions to the program which was introduced at the Annual Regional Officer Training in September. Additionally, the State FFA Officers and many Regional FFA Officers made personal contributions to the effort. The Oneida Baptist FFA was recognized as the top chapter for their contribution of $836.50 to the program. Several chapter members were able to attend the press conference along with chapter advisor Jennifer Griebenow.

According to State FFA Advisor Curt Lucas, supporting this effort was a natural fit for Kentucky FFA. “This mission goes hand in hand with our FFA motto of “learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, and living to serve.” Throughout history, a safe and plentiful food supply has been the first step in a safe and stable nation. We want our National Guard members to know that we support their efforts and wish them all the best.”

Special thanks to the Kentucky National Guard for their support of this effort and to the Agriculture Communications Association for coordinating the collection and purchase of the supplies.

For more information on the Agribusiness Development Team go to http://kentuckyguard.wordpress.com

For more information on Kentucky FFA, contact Matt Chaliff at 502-564-3472 or matt.chaliff@education.ky.gov

Kentucky Association FFA

500 Mero Street, Room 2121

Frankfort, KY 40601

502-564-3472

www.kyffa.org

Posted by Matt Chaliff

Kentucky Well Represented At National FFA Convention

Kentucky FFA Members Excel At National FFA Convention

October 26, 2009

Kentucky FFA was well represented at the 82^nd Annual National FFA Convention, which was held October 21-24 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Over 53,000 FFA members from across the United States attended the Convention, which is the largest youth organization gathering in the United States.

Ariel Waldeck of the Central Hardin FFA was named a National Winner in the Agri-Entrepreneurship Contest which is sponsored by USDA Rural Development. Waldeck was recognized for her work in her dairy genetics business and received $1000 to expand and grow her business.

Emily Johnson of LaRue County was named the National Winner in the Floriculture Proficiency Contest. Twelve other Kentucky students were named national finalists in proficiency contests-meaning that they were in the top four in the nation. They were:

Ag. Mechanics Repair & Maintenance- Ent. Tanner Hudgins Harrison County

Ag. Mechanics Repair & Maintenance- Plct. Cody Milburn Spencer County

Agriculture Services Zach Cotton Spencer County

Diversified Crop Ent. Alex Richardson Meade County

Equine Science Ent. Rebekkah McCoy Montgomery County

Equine Science Plct. Carlye Graff Spencer County

Grain Production Plct. Tyler Milburn Spencer County

Home and Community Development Les Taylor Russell County

Landscape Management Samuel Reis Campbell County

Specialty Crop Production Jeffery Albright Rockcastle County

Turf Grass Management Cody Sullivan LaRue County

Wildlife Production Gabe Stodghill Spencer County

Andrew Baird of Spencer County FFA was named as a national finalist for the American Star Farmer Award. Stephanie Mitchell of Spencer County FFA was named as a national finalist for the American Star In Agriscience Award. The American Star Awards are the highest awarded by FFA and both students made it to the top four in the nation.

The Wolfe County FFA Chapter was named as one of the 10 Model of Innovation Chapters in the areas of Student Development and Community Development. This is the second year in a row that Wolfe County has been a national finalist for this coveted award.

Four Kentucky career development event teams placed in the top ten in the nation. The Agriculture Marketing Team from Nelson County placed third in the nation. Team members were: Brooke Spalding, Kayla Spalding, and Sammy Humes. The Agriculture Sales Team from Franklin Simpson placed fifth in the nation. Team members were: Mariah Rowland, Claire Crocker, Kendra Kelley, and Kali Duncan. The Agronomy Team from Spencer County placed fifth in the nation. Team members were: Amanda Martin, Tevin Shouse, Joseph Snider, and Holly Ware. The Food Science Team from LaRue County placed eight in the nation. Team members were: Julia Johnson, Craig Dunn, Justin Carter, and Lannah Wheeler. The Farm Management Team from Spencer County, the Floriculture Team from Oldham County, and the Livestock Judging Team from Boyle County all received Gold Emblem ratings.

Logan Goggin of the Boyle County FFA finished eight over all in the Livestock Judging Career Development Event. Maggie Brown of Cumberland County FFA received a gold rating in the Dairy Cattle Handlers Event which is the highest possible in that event.

Several Kentucky students participated in the National FFA Agriscience Fair including: Ali Higgs, Andrew Ballard, and Ronald Lewis of Western Hills; Michael Waddlington- Union County; Kayla Williams, Stephanie Donnely, Chelsey Davis, and Katelyn Thomas of New Haven; Jessica Gambrel of North Laurel; Krystal Rigney, Brianna Hardesty, Taylor Husson, Alex Tingle, Josh Johns, Kaleb Paul, Hunter Dean, Michael Goodlett, J. P. Lilly, Danielle Smith, and Abby Teator of Jessamine County; and Anna Meador of Franklin Simpson.

Four students, Alex Tingle of Jessamine County, Tracy Prater of Fleming County, Ashley Ruth of Scott County, and Josh Spencer of Deming represented Kentucky in the National FFA Band.

167 Kentucky students received their American FFA Degrees, which is the highest award the organization can bestow on a member.

Quint Pottinger of LaRue County represented Kentucky as a National Officer Candidate.

Several Kentuckians received Honorary American Degrees at the Convention, including Teachers of Agriculture, Bland Baird of Spencer County, Boyd Johnson of Oldham County, and Camille Rice of Wolfe County. Retired Jessamine County Superintendent Lawrence Allen also received the Honorary American Degree.

For a complete listing of National Convention winners, visit http://www.ffa.org/convention/2009/awards.cfm

For More Information Contact:

Matt Chaliff, Executive Secretary

matt.chaliff@education.ky.gov

502-564-3472

Posted by Matt Chaliff

YouTube Video Contest

The Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board is proud to announce the Top Ten videos of the Kentucky Farmers are the #1 Advocate for Animals Video contest. The Top 10 videos are listed below in alphabetical order by school name – this is in no way a ranking.
Barren County Haley Fisher http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGTs9gOANY0
Bourbon County Caroline Snell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH3w-kRVMuo
Green County Cierra Price http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgVjkakZW0s
Jessamine County Brittany Quinn + Group http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BBiEIWqj2M
Jessamine County Joseph Horton + Group http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmN6Y_w5D8E
LaRue County Craig Dunn & Julia Johnson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41HCsQaGKB0
LaRue County Valerie Sherrard & Emilee Whitt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLqwLpXE-3U
Meade County Lydia Richardson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TFu_ZhKU1w
Nelson County Mariah Cecil & Kimberly Greer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTdK3YnU80Q
Simon Kenton Makenzie Waymeyer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35hRgwSXuFQ
It is now up to you to promote your video in as many creative ways as possible to get the number of views or hits to increase. On November 20, 2009 the videos with the most views will determine First, Second and Third Place. Here are some tips to increase the number of views:

Contact your local media (television, radio and newspaper) to come out a do a story regarding your video
Add your video to the school’s webpage
Add your video to your social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc)
Email it to everyone in your address book asking them to view and forward
Get creative and get busy!

Please note* A question of using a viewing software to increase hits has been raised. KSPB cannot monitor the use of this software in this contest; however, to make the contest fair, everyone needs to be made aware such software exists. Did you have a great video that did not make it to the Top Ten? There were MANY excellent videos that did not make it to the Top Ten due to the fact they did not meet contest requirements. The rules of this contest are black and white and videos MUST follow contest guidelines. Your video may have been cut due to:

Not meeting the time restraints. All videos had to be 30 seconds to 1 minute. Anything shorter or longer did not qualify.
Once videos were approved and uploaded, video and contestant information had to be resubmitted to KSPB.
Keywords to the video must have included the following: Animal Agriculture, Factory Farming, Animal Cruelty, Humane Treatment, FFA (additional keywords could have been added, but these listed must have been included).
Missing the deadline. All videos needed to be approved, uploaded and officially submitted back to KSPB before midnight on October 2, 2009.
Special thanks to all who participated and congratulations!

Posted by Matt Chaliff