MECHANICSBURG – In the past few months the Mechanicsburg FFA Chapter has had several accomplishments. The first accomplishment was the chapter’s state placing in the Greenhand quiz. Every year the first year FFA participants take a statewide Greenhand quiz over FFA history and general knowledge.
This year the chapter placed fifth in the state.
The top four scorers were Shanna Caudill, Faith Ford, Hannah Dingledine and Haley Hamby. Other participants were: Emily Conley, Ella Conley, Ella Forrest, Katie Haynes, Jasalyn Sartin, Kendall Rausch, Lucas Schaner, Preslee McMillan, Cameron Moore, Lane Poland and Jensen Patterson.
Other accomplishments included chapter CDEs. Career Development Events (CDE) are opportunities for FFA members to get involved and apply what they learn through their agricultural education courses in a competitive environment. The Mechanicsburg FFA chapter participated in three judging CDEs; Dairy Evaluation, Meats Evaluation and General Livestock Evaluation.
In Dairy Evaluation, the contestants judge six classes consisting of dairy cows, heifers, sire selection and pedigrees. In this year’s state competition the dairy team placed 16th overall. McKenze Hoewischer placed 10th as an individual out of 488 individuals. The other team members are: Elyse Wilson, Lilly Marsh, Jack Byerly, Luke Stroud, Cody Haynes and Sam Hoewischer.
In Meats Evaluation, the contestants judge approximately six classes per contest. They are asked to identify, evaluate and place different cuts of meat. They are asked to judge wholesale cuts and retail cuts. At most contests there is typically a general knowledge exam and then time for contestants to identify 40 retail cuts. Lastly, they complete meat formulations and work out yield and quality grades of meat. In the state Meats Evaluation contest the team won the whole contest, and Natalie Tull from the Burg placed first individually. Grace Forrest placed third, August Hartley placed fourth, Taylor Rausch placed ninth and Jenna Tull placed 10th.
In General Livestock Evaluation, the contestants are asked to judge four species over the course of eight classes (typically it’s two classes per species). Similar to meats, they complete a general knowledge test and a market grid. In this year’s state contest the General Livestock team placed 13th out of 91 teams. This year’s team members were: Morgan Heizer, Aubrey Cantrell, Cami McDonald, Dani Schipfer, Ella Forrest, Shanna Caudill, Kendall Rausch and Hannah Dingledine.
The Mechanicsburg FFA Chapter advisors are Abby Powell and Cole Riddle. The chapter’s reporter is Dani Schipfer
