Weaning Calves and Giving Thanks!

    November has gone by for me! Though it is safe to say that I was busy for most of the month. I focused the first two weeks on preparing for an FFA speech contest. I got second at districts and I'm the alternate for the state speech competition. I have also been working on an essay contest, which I am still in the process of putting the finishing touches to it. Throughout it all I had school work to tackle, taking four weighted courses may not have been my smartest move!

Ignite FFA

    Last week had some first times for me. First time I went to Louisville, Kentucky, first time I went to Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger Museum, and the first time I went to the National FFA Convention.

"Stationed by the Chapter Scrapbook..."

    With the start of school already underway FFA activities follow shortly behind. Just last week we held our first FFA chapter meeting of the year.

Seventeen Years of Influence

    Most of my childhood memories and life lessons revolve around my grandparents' farm. As a little kid I "helped " my Grandpa Virgil feed cattle and kept him company in the tractor during hay season. I would ride with him on the four-wheeler and check cattle and water gaps. I was never patient when I was little, in fact I am still impatient, but my Grandpa would always remind me that, "Patience is a virtue."

Red Dirt Music State of Mind

    The first part of my summer consisted of non-stop traveling, I came back from WLC on a Sunday and headed out again the next day to Bandera, Texas.

Home of the Free, Land of the Brave

     For months my FFA chapter was preparing and planning for this day to send eight students to Washington, D. C. for the Washington Leadership Conference (WLC). The ten of us  (my advisor and his wife, Blake, Jon, Carter, Frank, Abby, Meghan, Sydney and myself) packed ourselves into three vehicles at 4:45 in the morning and headed towards the airport to catch the plane for D. C.

What Missouri Agriculture has to Offer

    The first week in June I climbed onto a bus not knowing what I was getting myself into, but I knew I wouldn't forget it.  I knew I wouldn't forget the places I would see or the friends I would grow to love because of my MAbA experience.

My Side of the Story

    "Tell your side of the story to your community, tell people your part of agriculture..."

    I am told this at every agriculture event I attend; FFA Missouri State Convention, Washington Leadership Conference, Missouri Agribusiness Academy. I didn't know how I could tackle that challenge and get my story out to the consumer. I love to write and take photos, so the idea of Rural Culture was born.