FFA Teams qualify three for State

By Alan Carman
The Imperial Republican
    The Imperial FFA competed in four different district Career Development Event (CDE) competitions on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis.
    This was the first of a series of district CDE and Leadership Development competitions for the school year and included Agriscience, Livestock Judging, Nursery and Landscape and Natural Resources. Imperial qualified teams for state competition in three of the four events.
    The Agriscience team of Sawyer Sauder, Hayden Worth, Truman Olsen and Tatum May brought home the District Championship and will compete at state in April.
    Top 10 places were Sawyer 1st, Hayden 2nd, Truman 6th and Tatum 8th. Students take a written test over a wide area of agricultural knowledge along with identifying internal organs of a fetal pig and a fish. There were 74 individuals in the competition.
    Imperial fielded the District Runner-up Champion Sr. Livestock Judging Team which will also advance to State in April. Team members are Jayme Gittlein, Violet Sparrow, Conner Stromberger and Grady Wilson.
    Individual top 20 finishers included: Jayme 1st, Violet 4th, Conner 17th. Participants judge eight classes of livestock including beef, swine, sheep and goats. They then give oral reasons justifying their placings on three of these classes. There were 71 individuals in the competition.
    Imperial’s Nursery and Landscape Team also brought home District Runner-up Champion Honors and will advance to State in April. Team members include: Charlie Johnson, Jaxsen Villarreal, Beau Weiss and Aidan Vlasin.
    Imperial members finishing in the top 20 were: Charlie 5th, Jaxsen 7th (tie), Beau 7th (tie), and Aidan 12th. In this event, students must identify various nursery plants and landscaping equipment, take a written test over general industry knowledge related to plants and landscaping. They must also evaluate a landscape plan and calculate associated costs. 51 individuals competed in this competition.
    Imperial also had individuals participating in Enviromental and Natural Resources and Jr. and Junior High Livestock Judging.
    The Enviromental and Natural Resources team of Damon Spady, Avery Beemer, Domonic Harris and Luke Kuenning placed 10th out of 14 teams. Individually, Domonic and Damon placed in the top 50%, making the ribbon category.
    Participants must identify species of wildlife, wildlife tracks and scat, and take a fifty question exam related to various aspects of our natural resources.
    Damien Barger and Cy Eskew competed in Jr. Livestock Judging. Both placed in the top 50% and received a white ribbon. The junior division is for freshman and sophomore students and Sr. is for juniors and seniors.
    Students in the junior division judge the same classes as the Sr. individuals but only give one set of reasons. There were 71 competing in this division.
    In the Junior High Livestock Judging, Lilly Kuenning, Bo Owens and Hayden Fowler competed. Individually, Lilly and Bo placed in the top half and received red ribbons. Junior high judges the same classes as the older students, but they give no reasons. 100 students competed in this division.
    FFA Advisor, Randy Vlasin said; “I was pleased with the performance of Imperial’s teams. We were somewhat concerned going into the contest as we lost some livestock judgers due to illness. We were able to move Grady Wilson up from the junior team to the senior division so we could have a full team.
    It paid off with the team qualifying for State. Anytime you can qualify teams for State in three out of four competitions, you have to consider that a good day.
    I want to mention the work of Regan Gittlein as he coaches the livestock teams. I appreciate this and it frees me up to focus more on other teams,” stated Randy.
    Imperial’s next set of competitions will be the Leadership Development Events on December 9.