On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the South Central FFA Career Development Day was held at the Clarke County Fairgrounds and Events Center. Over 1,500 students from 47 schools came to compete in 12 different contests designed to help them build their career skills - Vet Science, Meat Science, Farm Business Management, Soil Evaluation, Livestock and Horse Evaluation, Nursery, Agronomy and Poultry Evaluation.
Several colleges and universities from around the state, as well as business professionals, came to the fairground to talk to students about schooling and career opportunities related to agriculture.
Osceola Big Chief FFA advisor Brandi Boyd shared the following results for Clarke students:
In the Vet Science contest, students were tested on animal diseases, anatomy, equipment identification, as well as completing a hands-on practicum. Jimena Aldeiturriaga and Millie Reynolds placed 52 and 60th out of 107 teams.
Zoey Lund placed third overall out of 162 participants in the Dairy Science contest. Zoey analyzed milk fast content and cheese identification.
A horse judging team of Remi Binning, Savannah Leonard, Reese Shaw and Haylee Tipton took ninth placed of 60 teams.
There were eight novice livestock participants - Renata Herrera, Masan Redman, Lukas Short, Fernanda Silva, Austin Stoll, Mallory Tidman, Jackson White and Levi White. Lukas placed 60th of 300.
A new contest this year was that of Meat Science, organized by two alumni of the Osceola FFA, Jake Manternach and Kaitlyn Boyer. The students who participated in this were Luke McAtee, Remmy McCoy and Owen Schacherer. Remmy placed seventh of 61 students, with Luke in 38th and Owen 45th.
Alyssa Kent and Ivan Greif participated in the advanced livestock, where they evaluated animals and gave oral reasons to judges. Alyssa placed 28th and Ivan 105th of 147 students.
“I am proud of the students for trying something new and learning new skills,” said Boyd. “Great job Osceola FFA students on your bravery to try something new.”
Boyd thanked Jennifer Miler for chaperoning the students at the Career Development Day, and community members Lisa Blanchard, Brian Oswald, Tim Prunty and Alex Shaw, who donated their time and animals for the livestock judging contest. She also thanked Iowa State University Livestock Judging coach Will Taylor for assisting with the livestock judging contest, as well as bringing along a team of students to take reasons.
Other community members and businesses who helped make the day a success: Ray Bishop - Osceola HyVee; Clarke County Fairboard, Verla Cole, and Paula Hein; Osceola Farm and Home; Maschoff’;, Clarke County Farm Bureau; Matt McCann; Clay Andrew; Osceola Volunteer Fire Department; Jake Manternach and Kaitlyn Boyer.