FFA New Years Day on RFD TV

RFD-TV, a committed sponsor to the National FFA Association, truly believes that students in the FFA are a 'Cut Above the Rest', a perfect match to this year's theme of the Tournament of Roses Parade.

At the 121st Tournament of Roses Parade, RFD-TV dedicated this year's float to the National FFA's outstanding over half a million members as a tribute to rural youth and the diverse programs of the Association. To represent this diversity, RFD-TV invited one state officer from each respective state association to walk with the float in sunny Pasadena, CA.

I was fortunate and happy to represent Minnesota FFA and this once in a life time opportunity. Now,as Minnesota FFA members, many of feel as though we have mastered the art of official dress and are up to the challenge of wearing in any weather condition. The 51 state officers in the parade could be considered official dress olympians as we walked close to seven miles at Rose Bowl Parade speed. But seriously, walking in the parade was incredible. I felt like we really made a connection with the hundreds of thousands of people lined up along the streets. Looking right into their eyes and smiling faces while screaming "Happy New Year!" its obvious that this parade is huge part of their lives in Pasadena.

I was honored to represent FFA in this way and thanks to all of you, our float was voted second Viewer's Choice! In addition, the float the winner of the Showmanship Award. From what I gathered the judge's were impressed with our incredible dance moves to the famous sounds of 'Lead Out Loud', this year's National FFA theme.

If you get the chance, be sure to thank RFD-TV for this awesome opportunity for the National FFA Association to showcase what we stand for: Premier Leadership, Person Growth and Career Sucess through Agriculture Education.

Rose Bowl Parade!

Honestly, I didn't even know there was a Rose Bowl parade until I was invited to participate in it with the National FFA Organization and RFD-TV!

Here are some sweet pics of the float! I will be walking 6 miles with other State Officers from across the nation on the parade route in Pasadena, CA!

The parade is on New Years Day, check it out... More updates to come!

Agri Growth Council Meeting

The 2009 Minnesota Agri-Growth Council Annual Meeting brings together key stakeholders in the food and agriculture industry. More than 400 industry leaders gathered for this event held at the Minneapolis Convention Center on November 3. Government relations professionals, commodity group and farmer leaders and public officials came together to learn about and discuss current industry trends and topics. This year’s meeting focused on the issue of sustainability and corporate social responsibility.

It is not only the responsibility of big business, but also the responsibility of individuals and producers in the agriculture industry. We need to remember the decisions we make now will affect the world that future generations will be living in.

Attending the Agri-Growth Council Meeting, I was inspired to learn more what effects modern farming practices really have on the environment. Being a dairy farmer, I don’t like to think that the methane from my ruminant friends destroys our ozone layer. And on top of that, that dairy cows are producing so much methane gas that there has been talk of a proposed “Cow Tax” that would charge dairy producers $150 per head for the toll their digestive gases are taking on our environment.

Through the eyes of consumers, modern farming practices appear to have higher environmental effects than to when their grandparents were farming in the 1940s. With the world’s ever growing population, producers need to adopt improved and more efficient means of producing food.
Here are some statistics to bust the myths of the environmental impacts of farming.
· The time needed to grow an animal to slaughter weight takes twice as long of corn fed beef cattle. This translates to three times the energy use and greenhouse emissions per pound of beef.
· In 2007, the U.S. dairy industry produced 8.3 billion more gallons of milk than in 1944 with a carbon footprint that was reduced by 41% during the same time period.
Even though we are making progress in the sustainability department by striving for better days through better ways of producing food for our ever growing population, there is always room for innovation. Our agriculture industry needs leaders like you! What will you and your chapter do to introduce sustainable practices in your schools and communities?
***Statistics provided by: Jude Capper, Ph.D, assistant professor of dairy sciences at Washington State University at the 71st Cornell Nutrition Conference in Syracuse, NY.

National FFA Convention

Every year I look forward to the 3rd week of October...
Come on, you know... a big celebration, everyone coming together for a common purpose, new and old friends reunite. YES! Its my birthday! Just kidding, but something that is much more exciting than me waving good bye to my teenage years this year was attending the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN.
It was a totally different experience going to convention as a delegate. This year there were 9 delegates from Minnesota representing our membership. We discussed for hours within our respective committees as we wrestled through issues that the National Association is faced with. I was a member of the Post Secondary Retention and Engagement committee where we worked to more clearly define Collegiate FFA and how it can be more appealing to college students. Other committees focused on delivery options of New Horizons FFA Magazine, national dues increase, and many others.
There were many parts of the convention that were incredible, but I really enjoyed several of the keynote speakers. Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs was so down to earth and genuine. I will probably job shadow him someday and take over his show. Josh Sundquist: BEST SPEAKER EVER. I felt like this guy was a good friend of mine by the time he stepped off the stage. I was so inspired by him to be a speaker like that.
Equally as awesome, were all the awesome people I met and got to catch up with! Meeting with other state officers and learning about their diverse ways of carrying out the FFA mission was very energizing. Its my favorite way to learn... through the conversations I have with friends.
Its been way to long since I've seen my friends from SGLC and SLCCL. And good thing I got to see a few of them at the state photo! A special shout out to the Sleepy Eye FFA who always graciously adopts me!
Don't for get to keep your spirits high for the rest of the year... remember all the excitement and energy you felt at National Convention and bring that back to your schools and chapters to light someone elses fire for FFA.

Region 3 Fall Rally

I remember my first Fall Rally.... so many students going several different directions to all the sessions and activities. Those region officers were so poised and great public speakers.
Things haven't changed coming back 5 years later!
It was excellent to meet with the officer teams present and new members, you were all very motivated by what you do. It will be exciting to see what members from Region 3 will accomplish!
Good job to those Regional Officers! They presented a lot of very practical FFA and life knowledge in a fun and upbeat way.
Since I live in Region 3, those chapters there better not hesitate to contact me to come to their chapter and region events.

Minnesota State Fair

Minnesota State Fair is better than Christmas and my birthday combined!! What is better than practically living with all your best friends and being surrounded by some of the best animals in the state and on top of that, there’s all the excellent food and outrageous pranks (like quarters glued to the floor, right Kirby?)
The first few days, I was in the Leadership Center and Chapter House as well as helping out in the CHS Miracle of Birth Center and Photo Booth. While in the Chapter House, I was excited to hear about FFA alumni's experiences back in the day. We also gave away fabulous door prizes each day of the fair. My favorite part was meeting up with current members of FFA whether I just meeting them or catching up with since the last time we met.
Next few days the only place you would've found me was the dairy barn. Our family brought 15 head of Brown Swiss and Milking Shorthorns. Let's just say that our Swiss crop this year has room for improvement for next year's fair... But it was sweet to have extra help on show day from Kirby. He exhibited my Spring Calf, Polka Dot who is now his favorite animal of all time. Our Shorthorns were the show stoppers for us. Our 3 Year Old was Grand Champion Milking Shorthorn and went on to be named Supreme Champion of the Show!! What was especially special about this accomplishment was that this cow traces back to my mom's 4-H projects.
The last few days of the fair I was infected with the '4-H1N1' and missed out on the excellent FFA dance and livestock shows. I hope all of you that were there danced a little for me.

State Leadership Conference for Chapter Leaders (SLCCL)

State Leadership Conference for Chapter Leaders themed ‘The Amazing Race Destination: Leadership’ was a week of fun, friends, discovery, and service for the about 130 members present.
For a select few, however, it was all about the pranks…. ;). I don’t want to mention names, but their initials were Alex Murdock and Kelsey Mussman. Shaving cream, rainbow shorts, and mattresses were involved in these acts of trickiness, but they quickly learned that they can’t mess with the best when it comes to pulling excellent pranks…
One of my favorite parts of the week was Thursday morning service projects. I was on the squad removing invasive species from grassy areas at Deep Portage. Pulling weeds is fun enough in itself, but it was a huge bonus when we located all kinds of wild raspberries and strawberries along the way. It wasn’t too long until we were busted by the man (AKA the nice lady who explained which plants to extract) and we weren’t really allowed to practice our hunter/gatherer skills.
I made countless friends throughout this week and learned a great deal about what motivates them and that in turn made me reflect on why I do what I do. Everyone has their own way of learning and gathering information, but my favorite way to gain knowledge is through conversation with others. Thank you to all you members at SLCCL for sharing a piece of you with me. It was a blast working with all of you!