by Caden Wittrock – South O’Brien FFA Chapter Reporter
On November 2, 2023, the National FFA Poultry Evaluation competition was held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.
The South O’Brien FFA team included Dain Moermond, Dante Johnson, Hudson Oolman, and Leo Sells. As college freshmen now, they got to come along for one last ride to the National FFA Leadership Conference.
The National FFA Poultry Evaluation CDE is a competitive event that tests the participant’s ability to select top-quality poultry and poultry products needed for successful production and marketing. Event participants must complete a written exam on poultry management, evaluate classes of live birds for egg and meat production, evaluate the quality of eggs, and evaluate and identify poultry parts and products. Each team competed at local and state levels for the privilege of representing their state at the National FFA Convention & Expo.
“All four on the team were very active in FFA throughout high school and had previously competed at the national level in meats and soil evaluation events.” said South O’Brien FFA Advisor Eric Kumm. “The last time we had a team compete in the National Poultry contest was in 2009, before Iowa even had a state contest. This time was a bit challenging since all of the guys are busy with classes and college life. They have always made competing in events fun, but still know when to get down to business. Probably the most difficult part for them was the written exam since there is just so much technical information to learn. But we acquired some new information to help out next time if we have a team qualify again.”
The South O’Brien team finished as the overall champion at the 2023 State FFA Poultry competition, which gave them a ticket to the national contest. In Indianapolis, the team placed 28th out of 43 teams and received a Silver rating.