Pre-planners of the future
By Justin R. Lessman
A group of Jackson County Central FFA members are well-poised to be the agricultural pre-planners of the future.
Four members of the chapter’s farm management career-development team recently returned from a grueling national competition that took place in conjunction with the National FFA Convention and Expo in Louisville, Ky. The local team earned the right to compete in the prestigious contest by winning the state contest this past spring.
Retired JCC FFA Chapter advisor Jeff Voss and local ag producer Brad Milbrath are team coaches. They say the scope of knowledge team members are expected to master in order to compete at the highest levels is vast.
“It’s a very diverse set of knowledge these kids need to have,” Milbrath said.
It includes everything from balance sheets to benchmarking, income statements to income taxes, budgeting to types of business organizations, cashflow to insurance, price hedging to risk management, microeconomics to macroeconomics and more.
The state contest consisted of a two-hour test dealing with a specific scenario and a separate hour-long multiple-choice test, Voss said. The national competition was a bit different, consisting of a three-hour individual test and a one-hour team activity.
The slightly different competition format meant a slightly different approach to preparing for the national contest, Milbrath said.
“We’ve been practicing the group test portion quite a bit, while also continuing to brush up on the other general knowledge the students need to have,” he said.
Practice for the national competition began just a few weeks after the team won the state competition during last spring’s Minnesota State FFA Convention, though the team was forced to deal with a little hiccup right off the bat.
“Rachel Mohr, who was a senior at the time, was one of the members of the state-champion team, but due to some scheduling conflicts with college, we needed to find a replacement,” Milbrath said.
Enter Isabelle Henning, sister of team member Samantha Henning, who spent the last several months engaged in crash-course learning to get up to speed.
“If everybody has been working hard to prepare for the national contest, Izzy has worked extra hard to get where she needs to be to help this team compete,” Voss said.
That hard work that began this past spring continued all summer long and ramped up this fall.
“It takes a special kind of kid to want to come into school during the summer and learn about spreadsheets and micro- and macroeconomics,” Voss said. “These kids did that.”
With Samantha Henning also off to college this fall, the team had to pivot again, including her in weekly practices virtually.
“We’ve been practicing at least once per week, with Sam calling in,” Milbrath said. “We do what we have to do.”
“Some of these kids have jobs; some are helping with their family farming operation,” Voss said. “Brad farms; I work. It’s a balancing act.”
The team faced one final hurdle when Samantha Henning fell ill and had to be replaced by fellow chapter member Kylie Zishka at the last minute.
Despite the hiccups and hurdles, Voss said he is proud of the team and how hard team members worked to get ready to represent Minnesota at the national farm management contest.
“To do well, you have to prepare,” he said. “The team did that ahead of the state competition last spring and has done that again ahead of the national competition.”
Milbrath agreed.
“It’s a lot for these kids to know,” he said, “but they know it.”
Other team members include Rylee Benda and Landon Carter.
A group of Jackson County Central FFA members are well-poised to be the agricultural pre-planners of the future.
Four members of the chapter’s farm management career-development team recently returned from a grueling national competition that took place in conjunction with the National FFA Convention and Expo in Louisville, Ky. The local team earned the right to compete in the prestigious contest by winning the state contest this past spring.
Retired JCC FFA Chapter advisor Jeff Voss and local ag producer Brad Milbrath are team coaches. They say the scope of knowledge team members are expected to master in order to compete at the highest levels is vast.
“It’s a very diverse set of knowledge these kids need to have,” Milbrath said.
It includes everything from balance sheets to benchmarking, income statements to income taxes, budgeting to types of business organizations, cashflow to insurance, price hedging to risk management, microeconomics to macroeconomics and more.
The state contest consisted of a two-hour test dealing with a specific scenario and a separate hour-long multiple-choice test, Voss said. The national competition was a bit different, consisting of a three-hour individual test and a one-hour team activity.
The slightly different competition format meant a slightly different approach to preparing for the national contest, Milbrath said.
“We’ve been practicing the group test portion quite a bit, while also continuing to brush up on the other general knowledge the students need to have,” he said.
Practice for the national competition began just a few weeks after the team won the state competition during last spring’s Minnesota State FFA Convention, though the team was forced to deal with a little hiccup right off the bat.
“Rachel Mohr, who was a senior at the time, was one of the members of the state-champion team, but due to some scheduling conflicts with college, we needed to find a replacement,” Milbrath said.
Enter Isabelle Henning, sister of team member Samantha Henning, who spent the last several months engaged in crash-course learning to get up to speed.
“If everybody has been working hard to prepare for the national contest, Izzy has worked extra hard to get where she needs to be to help this team compete,” Voss said.
That hard work that began this past spring continued all summer long and ramped up this fall.
“It takes a special kind of kid to want to come into school during the summer and learn about spreadsheets and micro- and macroeconomics,” Voss said. “These kids did that.”
With Samantha Henning also off to college this fall, the team had to pivot again, including her in weekly practices virtually.
“We’ve been practicing at least once per week, with Sam calling in,” Milbrath said. “We do what we have to do.”
“Some of these kids have jobs; some are helping with their family farming operation,” Voss said. “Brad farms; I work. It’s a balancing act.”
The team faced one final hurdle when Samantha Henning fell ill and had to be replaced by fellow chapter member Kylie Zishka at the last minute.
Despite the hiccups and hurdles, Voss said he is proud of the team and how hard team members worked to get ready to represent Minnesota at the national farm management contest.
“To do well, you have to prepare,” he said. “The team did that ahead of the state competition last spring and has done that again ahead of the national competition.”
Milbrath agreed.
“It’s a lot for these kids to know,” he said, “but they know it.”
Other team members include Rylee Benda and Landon Carter.
