Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Agriculture department hosts Future Farmers of America contest

Monday, April 14, 2014

They come from both near and far. Some high school students need only travel from Cape Central High School, Jackson or Scott City. Others from farther away traveled for several hours from places like Festus or Alton, Mo.

The regional had begun annually at the Show Me center in Cape Girardeau. Students were clad in all manners of dress, to the extent that it couldn't be distinguished if they had rural origins or more urban.

In an event that was scheduled April 1, 3, and 5. The event's featured day of Thursday had arrived. The students were presented clipboards as they filed from one testing area to another. Tests were administered concerning identification of insects, seeds and poultry eggs. Career development events even encompassed agri-business and agri-sales to showcase how well-rounded the students were.

Nick Nordwald, the southeast district's competition superintendent, said that the district covers such a large area that representation came from as far north as Ste. Genevieve, as far south as Southland or Senath and all the way over to Doniphan to the west.

"Just today there has to be 400 kids present, maybe even 450," Nordwald said. "There are over 30 schools represented here."

As a high school agriculture teacher himself, Nordwald said he has a good mixture of students between the rural and more urban kids who just have a thirst for knowledge.

"A lot of times the kid that was brought up in the country will already have a base of the knowledge. However, the kid from in town will have more of a desire to learn," Nordwald said.

The majority of the events took place at the Show Me Center, but there were also venues for the competition at the Student Recreation Center-North in flower identification, the university's greenhouse complex with soil sciences and development and livestock judging at nearby Flickerwood horse farm.

From a distance, Jarvis Reed of Alton, Mo.was approached, as he had the persona of being in charge of several people. The tobacco usage days were gone from the stereotype years ago, but a tanned appearance from sun exposure was the first impression he exuded. Reed wore a plaid button-up shirt and brandished a lengthy, lightly graying goatee to complete the façade of discomfort in slacks, as opposed to jeans, and the "dress shirt", as opposed to a T-shirt.

"There is Anemology, Agronomy, livestock judging, landscaping and horticulture among the competitions. But I just love the agricultural field because you get to see the kids succeed so quickly," Reed said.

Michael Hollis, of Bernie, Mo., described his experiences while working with students in the agricultural fields.

"I like seeing the light bulb turn on when they get things, and seeing them progress from there. When you explain things like photosynthesis to show how crops grow, it kind of clicks with them in everyday life and tells them why their yard grows, for instance," Hollis said.

Comments