Team members representing Indiana at the National 4-H contest were Jeff Carrell, Lebanon, Boone County; Hannah Coleman, Thorntown, Boone County; Jennifer Lueken, Birdseye, Dubois County, and Laura Sanders, Lebanon, Boone County.

Thirty teams participated in the contest. Indiana finished 10th overall. The team was sixth in Holsteins & Guernseys, eighth in Oral Reasons, ninth in Jerseys, and 10th in Ayrshires.

Jennifer Lueken was fourth high individual in Ayrshires; Hannah Coleman was eighth high individual in Holsteins; Jeff Carrell was 11th high individual in Holsteins; and Laura Sanders was 13th high individual in Jerseys and 18th high individual in oral reasons.

Jennifer Lueken was awarded an All-American judging title for being the 14th high individual overall.

The team was sponsored by NorthStar Select Sires, the Indiana State Fair, Indiana Holstein Association and the Indiana Professional Dairy Producers.

This was Indiana’s fifth opportunity to have a team comprised of 4-Hers from across the state of Indiana. The main goal for an all-state team is to provide educational opportunities for all of Indiana’s 4-H members to participate in dairy judging, regardless of where they live and to reward those members who achieve excellence.

The team was coached by Steve Hendress, Purdue University and Kelly Easterday, Warsaw.

Fairfield FFA takes third in Garst Seed national communication competition
LEESBURG, Ohio —The Fairfield FFA Chapter of Leesburg, Ohio took third at the national level in the Garst Seed Company’s Communication Curriculum and FFA Competition.

The contest encourages students to learn about agriculture communication and design print, radio and television ads to support an agricultural topic. Teams from all over the United States participated in this year’s competition. This year’s theme for the competition was “America’s Farmland, Today’s Solution to Tomorrow’s Energy Needs.”

The Fairfield team consisted of Devan Bernard, Heather Beatty and Zach Campbell. The students worked for several weeks and submitted their print ad to the competition on October 6.

On October 19, the students learned that their ad had taken third in the competition.

“The students took a creative approach to the task and it paid off,” said Javonne Mullins, Fairfield FFA adviser.

For their efforts, the Fairfield FFA will receive $250 in prize money.

Team member Devan Bernard said, “I’m not quite sure what we’re going to use the money for yet, but I’m sure we will find a good use for it.”
-Submitted by Zach Campbell

This farm news was published in the Oct. 25, 2006 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.