Soils- Digging Deep and Coming Out on Top
FFA members, seniors, Trinety Gilem, Allara Henry, Lily Yax, Colton Copeland, and Hannah Penn, juniors, Maddy Willis, Landen Thorpe, Payten Harrison, Izzy See, Bekah Birkey, sophomores, Delaney McLaughlin, Madelyn Hillis, Brian LeDonne, Trevor Johnson, Freshman, Kolton Woolever, all competed in the Area Soils contest. The contest was on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at the Fulton County fairgrounds. To compete in the area contest, FFA students had to place in the top percentage against other members from our school at the county soils contest at Forgey Farms, right outside of Young America. The top Lewis Cass students were then placed on teams and competed at area soils. Lewis Cass hit it out of the park.
Junior, Maddy Wills was the top individual, and her team of Kollin Robertoson, Izzy See, and Landen Thorpe. The other team, Delany McLaughlin, Kolten Woolever, Hannah Penn, and Madelyn Hillis, placed 7th, qualifying them for state as well. These members showed up and showed out. Some outstanding accomplishments are the following: Landedn Thorpe placing third, Kollin Robertson fifth, and Delaney McLaughlin placing sixth. They will compete in the state competition in Huntington County on October 17 & 18. If these students place in the top five at the state contests, they will be able to compete at a National level in Oklahoma. Good luck to these members in their future endeavors.
Skill-a-Thon-Driven by Passion, Grounded in Agriculture
FFA is known to have something for everyone. Another contest member will be competing at is livestock skill-a-thon. Skillathon is the true test of knowing who knows their stuff about the agriculture industry. At this competition, members must be able to identify livestock breeds, livestock equipment, livestock feed, meat cuts, and two quizzes testing one’s knowledge of the livestock industry. Ag FFA advisor, Mr. Plank, explained more, “Skillathon is a challenging contest to prepare for because the contest does not have an area qualifier, but instead is a ‘Straight to state’ contest. In knowing that, the top teams in the state all do well on their scores in the identification categories. Those categories are as follows: livestock equipment ID, feed stuff ID, breed ID, and Meat Cut ID. Those all come from a pool of items, and that pool of items is the same every year, so after 4-6 years of studying those, they become easy for the top teams. The hard part about the Skillathon is the industry quiz, which changes each year. We had a mock contest in the Ag wing to see who would make our top teams, and those scores were good. Members have been practicing and studying old industry quizzes to get prepared.” This Contest will be held on October 11, 2025, at Purdue University. Good luck to all the members competing in this contest.
Upcoming Events- Get Ready to Grow: Upcoming Opportunities for FFA Members
The FFA is constantly preparing for its next competitions and experiences. October is the start of the busiest time of the year. At the end of October, the Livestock Judging team, consisting of McCoy Taylor, Matt Minnick, Lily Yax, and Lexi Gotshall, will travel to compete in a National Competition in North Carolina. FFA Members are also looking forward to celebrating “Cabbage Night,” also known as Halloween, and are excited to mingle with their fellow members. The Lewis Cass FFA chapter has many accomplishments to be proud of and lots to look forward to in the next month.
