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@morgancountynews.net
FFA members receiving the State FFA Degree, from left, back, are Isaac Jones, Logan Kreis, front, Joseph Childs, Lauren Brasel, Rachel Walker and Samuel Potter.
Students at the Morgan County Career & Technical Center install fencing for a new beef cattle farm project.
The student farm project is being funded through the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
Six students in the Morgan County Career & Technical Center FFA program received the state’s highest honor at the 95th Annual FFA State Convention earlier this month.
Those receiving the State FFA Degree include Isaac Jones, Logan Kreis, Joseph Childs, Lauren Brasel, Rachel Walker and Samuel Potter. The program was also recognized as a Superior Chapter in Tennessee.
“We had six State Degrees, which is an individual accomplishment for our students,” said Landon Mann, agriculture educator at the Career and Technical Center and FFA advisor.
The students were required to do a lengthy application process and be approved by the state. The application includes details about their in-class curriculum, FFA activities and supervised agriculture experience.
They are required to have been involved in chapter leadership as a chapter officer or chapter committee member, participate in state level activities, be enrolled in an agriculture program, show “supervised agricultural experience” growth and productivity and complete community service.
“If they meet all the required criteria they will get their State Degree, and I’ve actually talked to previous ag teachers and six is the most this program has ever had in one year, so it’s a pretty neat accomplishment. Essentially the State Degree is the highest honor the State of Tennessee can bestow upon a member,” Mann said. “They’re six really great kids. We went up there and had a great time.”
The local Future Farmers of America program has 68 chapter members. The Morgan County Career & Technical Center includes students from all four high schools and teaches them a variety of skills, including the importance of farming.
“We’re a career and technical education affiliated program, so we are developing the workers and leaders of tomorrow. That’s the goal. We’re developing soft skills, we’re developing leadership ability and career growth and success,” Mann said. “It is very important to the area, and specifically Morgan County, that we continue to educate on farming and the agriculture industry as a whole.”
Mann also serves on the Morgan County Soil Conservation District board, which supports local farmers and helped secure funding for a new farm project at the school where the students will be able to raise beef cattle.
“It is being funded through soil and water conservation funding, specifically through the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. They have supported us extremely well with getting a school farm funded,” Mann said. “With current technology in the ag industry, having students get hands-on and participate in artificial insemination and embryo transfer — that is the absolute future of livestock management — them getting to do that in a high school program is pretty neat.”
The Soil Conservation District supports farmers in the county and helps establish good farming practices. Farmers can apply for grants for projects like fencing, feeding pads or service roads. The board also has equipment available for farmers to use. They are funded with some county funds that go straight back to local farmers and through the federal government. The board works with U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.
“It’s really just a program to help Morgan County farmers,” Mann said. “There’s money out there and opportunity. They say it’s difficult to get started in farming, but today there is a big push by the state to get money into young farmers’ hands.”
Local farmers looking for grant opportunities and other support are encouraged to contact the Soil Conservation District. The students who received the State FFA Degree are set to be recognized at the next school board meeting.
“I really just believe that gaining an understanding of farming is so incredible for students, especially with kids. If you ask them, ‘where does your food come from?’ at times they could have no clue,” Mann said. “Education is extremely important.”
