Prestigious awards will honor FFA members for outstanding projects

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Outstanding FFA members who have excelled with a variety of projects will be highlighted during the 94th annual Illinois FFA State Convention.

Winners of the Star Farmer, Star in Agribusiness, Star in Agriculture Placement and Star in Agriscience awards will be honored during the Stars over Illinois ceremony at the annual event in the Bank of Springfield Center.

Top awards will be presented during Session 4, starting at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 15.

The following FFA members have been selected as district winners after an extensive process of evaluating the students and their record books.

Star Farmer Finalists

Rodney Beam

District: 1

Chapter: Cambridge

FFA Adviser: Trenton Taber

Parents: Michael and Jessica Beam

SAE Project: Rodney Beam has several FFA projects including raising show pigs, grain production and agricultural mechanics. The FFA member has two sows and he sells the offspring from them as show and market pigs. He focuses on developing feed rations and selects semen to produce quality animals. In addition, Beam raises corn on Beam Farms, where he assists with working ground in the fall and spring, as well as with planting and harvesting. The FFA member is also in the process of restoring a Farmall 806.

Samuel Pree

District: 2

Chapter: Iroquois West

FFA Adviser: Wendy Ochs

Parents: Dan and Tammy Pree

SAE Project: For his FFA project, Samuel Pree raises California rabbits and he has a contract to sell 6-week-old rabbits at $35 each. Money raised from these sales is used to reinvest into his project. Pree exhibits his rabbits at the county fair where he has won the meat pen award multiple years in a row and then sells his winning rabbits at the fair auction. He also won with his rabbits at the state fair which gave him the opportunity to participate in the governor’s auction.

Braydon DeCounter

District: 3

Chapter: West Prairie

FFA Advisers: Sam DeCounter and Corinne Biswell

Parents: Sam and Heather DeCounter

SAE Project: The West Prairie FFA member has several FFA livestock projects including raising California and New Zealand rabbits that he shows at local, county, state and American Rabbit Breeders Association shows. DeCounter purchases pigs from local producers that he shows at local, county and state shows. The FFA member manages 13 Boer does and one Boer buck and his goal is to have kids born during the middle of November. He retains the does to increase the size of his operation and he markets bucks to other producers.

Madilyn Rose Brummer

District: 4

Chapter: Dieterich

FFA Adviser: Garret Helregel

Parents: Scott and Tracy Brummer

SAE Project: For her FFA project, Madilyn Rose Brummer purchases bottle calves from a local dairy farm and raises them to market weight. During the past five years, the FFA member has expanded her project from 10 to 18 head of cattle. Through her FFA projects, Brummer has learned skills and gained knowledge she will use for her future career goals.

Calista Herrmann

District: 5

Chapter: Nashville

FFA Adviser: Julie Bond-Ledford

Parents: Carl and Charlene Herrmann

SAE Project: In the first year of her FFA project, Calista Herrmann started with 2,190 chrysanthemums that were sold wholesale to local organizations that used the flowers for fundraising. The following year, she grew 9,040 mums and added retail sales to the wholesale operation. Her sales more than doubled the next year, when the FFA member sold 18,000 mums by the end of September. For her family’s Agri-entertainment business, Herrmann raises Nigerian Dwarf goats and owns a quarter horse mare.