Twenty Benjamin Logan FFA members participated in Spring Career Development Events and gained valuable, hands-on experiences in the areas of equine, poultry, dairy cattle and general livestock judging.
Equine Team Members placed 11th in the state, led by 19th placing junior Emily LeVan out of a field of 200 contestants.
“I am incredibly proud of all of the hard work our team put in this year, placing eleventh in the state is quite an accomplishment,” Emily said.
“Equine judging is by no means easy, but we have tackled it head on and improved each time. I can’t wait to see what next year brings for our team.”
Additional equine team members were Summer Litteral, Emma Murray, Lauren Van Winkle and Mia Ortiz.
Benjamin Logan FFA members Emily LeVan, left, and Zhoe Seeley
The purpose of the equine career development is designed as a hands-on method to teach students modern horse evaluation and selection skills, while also developing management abilities critical for success in the equine industry.
Fellow FFA Members Rylan Cook, Fiona Sweeney, Elizabeth James, Kaelin Gibson, Shyanne Schoeple and Konnor Barns competed in their first state competition for poultry.
The Poultry Evaluation Career Development Event encourages learning through activities related to production and management, processing, marketing and food safety and quality of poultry and poultry products.
In the general livestock judging, FFA Members McKenzie Forsythe, Zhoe Seeley, Ricky Tevis, Klayten Chamberlin and Alivia James improved their rank to the top 50 this year at the General Livestock Judging CDE.
“Livestock judging helps build a better mindset when going into an agricultural field of study or career,” Zhoe shared about the event. Earlier in the season, she placed 14th out of 835 contestants at the Wilmington College Aggies Contest.
The General Livestock CDE is as a practical way to teach students how to recognize quality production animals.
FFA members Johnny Beikman, Gabe Elsasser, and Holden Lautnschlager participated in the Dairy Cattle CDE, where students learn how to select quality dairy cattle. They were evaluated on pedigree evaluation, sire selection, linear evaluation, a written exam, placing classes, writing class notes and providing oral reasons.
In addition, Wyatt Gordon competed in the Dairy Handlers CDE.
Coaches Kaylie Snell and Jonathan Brewer assisted the FFA members and provided their leadership and experience.
