WHEATLAND - Twelve members of the Wheatland FFA Chapter travelled to Indianapolis, Ind. Nov. 1st to compete at the 96th National FFA Convention and came home with gold, silver, and bronze emblems all around.

The wins did not come easy, though. Practice began in January with two-hour weekly group practice, plus personal study time, balancing the responsibility with track, basketball and rodeo obligations for some students. After winning the state competition the team continued its weekly practices from June through November. Only the first-place winners at the state-level competition are eligible to go to nationals.

“They did very well [in the competition] and I’m very proud of their efforts. They represented the Chapter, Wheatland, and Wyoming well,” said Bill Dalles, Wheatland FFA Chapter advisor.

Practice did not end just because they were headed to Indianapolis, either. Dalles explained the Sales team started competing before they even left with a zoom call meeting, then during travel time all the members were discussing study material. All that hard work paid off during the eight-hour competition in which members would make logical judgements in their specialized categories, then defend their reasoning in a timed verbal defense of how they came up with their answers.

There were all Gold emblems for the Farm and Ranch Business Management team. Caden Wade, Hadley Paisley, Hayden Hocker and Megan Sagner each individually received Gold emblems, and the whole team also scored Gold. Wade had the distinction of receiving first place in the entire nation.

“He worked his tail off all summer – all year for that!” Dalles said.

Speaking of his experience being named the Top Placing Individual at the convention, Wade said, “I was so euphoric I couldn’t quit smiling!”

Currently a freshman at Michigan State, Wade said [like the others who began college this fall] in preparation for the competition he had a lot of late nights studying past test material after his college homework. He was a senior when the team won the state competition last May and didn’t expect to be on a nationals team, so it was a very busy summer transitioning from high school to college and still working to connect with his advisor and the rest of the team for practices.

“It was pretty taxing,” he said, but when asked if it was worth it, Wade added, “Oh! Yeah! It was good to see my friends from Wheatland again, and amazing to put on a resumé. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

In explaining where part of his team’s focus was over the summer, Wade said, “We were given a certain farm for the scenario and spent a lot of hours studying financial [reports] to see where they could improve and where they’re doing well.” He added that, among other things, they studied risk management, futures markets, how the sample business could be organized to make the most of its operation with maximum output and minimal costs.

Though it is high praise to receive the recognition he has, Wade wanted to encourage others who may not think they have what it takes to get that far. “It’s daunting at first. To really know [Ag Business Management], you have to be an actual Farm Advisor, but we learn some of the basics.” He explained when he started studying the subject in FFA, “I was not great the first few tests, but after a while and [some coaching from the advisor] it makes sense and explains itself.”

The Horse Evaluation team did excellent as well. They came home with a team Silver emblem. Individually, Kaylee Rasnake received Gold; Jadea Graves, and Ella Keil received Silver; and Paige Hofrock received Bronze.

“We had a good feeling we would come out on top. Everyone worked hard since last year. With that work ethic, it’s hard not to gain confidence. It’s easier going into competition especially if you have a passion and love learning,” said Graves. “Overall, it’s still intimidating – The knowledge that everyone at nationals also won State … you don’t really know how everything will turn out.”

“I enjoyed the competition: it tested me on what I did know, and applied my knowledge gained over the years,” she added. 

The Ag Sales team, consisting of Savanna Metz, Dante Dawson, EcoMae Kontour and Eleni McKee, received a Silver emblem. Individually, Kontour received Gold and Metz, Dawson and McKee received Silver.

“The kids handled the pressure well,” added Dalles. “They were top notch and had excellent time management.”

In addition to the competition, there were some educational tours to the “Indi-500” race track in Indianapolis, and the Louisville Slugger factory and Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. At the speedway, the kids were able to take a ride-along bus tour in which they were able to feel the pull and drag around the curves and learn the history of how racing has adapted over the years. At the Slugger factory they took a tour and were able to get a custom bat to bring back to Wheatland. A better understanding of Thoroughbreds and the racehorses at Churchill Downs was a benefit to the horse judging teams.

Hocker, Paisley, Wade, Dante, Metz, and Graves are currently college freshmen. Sagner and Kontour are seniors. McKee, Hofrock, Keil, and Rasnake are juniors.

The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization with a mission to develop students’ potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.