The Greenhand and the blue jackets

In addition to being the final week of the shortest month of the year, this week is National FFA Week. Back when I was in high school, during the Carter administration, the organization was known as Future Farmers of America, but now goes by its acronym, FFA.

I believe the reason for the subtle name change is that FFA covers so much more than farming. The reality of this was driven home to me last week when I was among the people asked to judge some of the Sub-District Leadership contests. Le Mars hosted the competition, the first step in a process that can lead to competing on a state level.

FFA members from Akron-Westfield, Kingsley-Pierson, Le Mars, Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto, Schaller-Crestland and Westwood competed at the Sub-District Contest at Le Mars.

My group of three judges included Carol Schnieder and Christine Kluver. We judged two contests, job interview and ag sales. Randy Kroksh, Akron-Westfield FFA advisor was in charge of our contests, and a great help.

I was intrigued and impressed with the contestants, who had done a great deal of preparation for their events. This was my first exposure to FFA Leadership Contest, other than discussing them with fellow classmates in the disco era.

My friends that were involved in FFA all lived on a farm or were involved in 4-H. Being a city kid, I knew precious little about life on the farm, so my involvement in these conversations was primarily listening.

I know they took these contests, as well as livestock and soil judging, very seriously. They also took great pride in wearing their blue corduroy jackets year-round, wherever they went. There was a time when some of my FFA friends and I went to a music or speech contest -- I don't recall where the contest was, but we decided to leave the school and walk downtown in whatever community the contest was taking place.

Several times, complete strangers would ask us if we knew people from our hometown. After about the third time, I asked my friends how these people knew where we were from. Being an idiot, I didn't realize that our community's name was embroidered in bright gold on the back of those blue corduroy jackets. My friends feigned ignorance and told me that they "got that a lot."

Did I mention we were a bunch of immature, sarcastic teens?

I'm sure things have changed in the 30 years since I was in high school.

For each of the contests, one judge interacted with the contestants. I performed the job interviews, and fellow judge Carol Schnieder was the customer that contestants were trying to close the deal with and sell their products.

The young men I interviewed all did a good job. All made good eye contact, answered questions and were very much at ease in the interviews. During the ag sales contest, FFA members tried to sell Carol Schneider all sorts of products, ranging from hormone free Angus beef to front end loaders to a unique gopher elminaton product, the Rodenator.

The Rodenator, I learned during the contest, would have been ideal for Carl the Bushwood groundskeeper, played to perfection by Bill Murray in the movie "Caddyshack." The Rodenator kills voles, moles, gophers, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, rabbits, armadillos, marmots (rock chucks, ground hogs, wood chucks), badgers, foxes and coyotes by injecting a mix of oxygen and propane into their burrows, then detonating the gas, killing the pests and collapsing the burrow. One of the contestants tried, unsuccessfully, to "sell" the Rodenator to Carol.

Best wishes to all involved in FFA. It's apparent by the enthusiasm exhibited by the contestants that the future of agriculture is bright and diverse.

As always, I welcome your comments. You can reach me by email at tstangl@lemarscomm.net, telephone 712-546-7031, x40 or toll free 1-800-728-0066 x40.

Thanks for reading, I'll keep in touch. Feel free to do the same.