The Battle Lake FFA teams shook off the tryptophan doldrums from Thanksgiving and had a great couple competitive events. On November 30th, the Battle Lake FFA Milk Quality, Floriculture and Horse judging teams competed against other teams from the Minnesota FFA Region 3 at Morris MN. Later in the week several teams make the long trek to Crookston to compete in the University of Minnesota/Crookston’s Ag and Natural Resources Day contests.
The Milk Quality team placed third out of 12 teams and qualified for the state competition next April. The team had to make up for the graduation of two key members from last year’s state team to earn their trip. Eliana Cole placed third and Sophie Akerman placed 6th out of more than 50 contestants. Rounding out the team in their first year in the event were super siblings Emily and Randy Christensen.
The Floriculture team placed fifth and also qualified for the state competition next April. Their team was led by Kailie Robinson. The sisters Ada and Cora Walker also contributed to the team. This year Kaylee Trosdahl and Molly Durbin joined the team for their first year.
This year a new Horse Evaluation team was formed. It was made up of three new members to our Battle Lake FFA chapter; Hailey George, Phoenix Allison, and Trinity Moen. It will be fun to see how far this team makes it through the years.
At the Crookston meet later in the week, there were some big placings as well. The Crops, Dairy Judging, Floriculture, Small Animals, and Soils teams all competed. Both the Dairy Judging and Soils teams placed third within their competitions. Eliana Cole and Zachary Johanson outdid themselves and placed first individually. Eliana is a returning member on the Dairy Judging team, while Zachary is a first year member of the Soils team. It is going to be an exciting season watching all of our teams grow and further their knowledge.