Looking back at 2024

South O’Brien FFA Competes At Southwest Minnesota State University Ag Bowl Contests in Marshall, Minnesota.

South O’Brien competed in Retail Meat ID, Fish and Wildlife, Farm Business Management, Soils, and Crops events against teams from South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa.
The Meat ID team placed 1st with individuals Gabe Moermond (3rd), BreLee Rasmussen (5th), Brett Evans (8th), and Austin Negus (10th) placing in the top 10. Ethan Schwarz, Will Stout, Jasper Johnson, John Puhrmann, and Abby Woodall also participated in the contest. Brett Evans said, “ To prepare for the contest we studied with meat identification flashcards. The contest was relatively easy, with the only challenging thing being the meat was not in a cooler so colorwise it looked different from what we’re used to seeing.”
Ian Oliver, Owen Oliver, and Ashton Hunt participated in the Fish and Wildlife contest. This event consisted of identifying numerous species of wildlife, plus a general knowledge exam about Minnesota wildlife rules and regulations.
Eliot Boardman participated in Farm Business Management. Eliot stated, “ I went to North Campus and studied with Mr. Kumm during our Discover Time. There are a lot of numbers to work with in a short amount of time which made the contest very difficult.”
To help prepare for their upcoming trip to the National Land Judging contest, BreLee Rasmussen and Abby Woodall competed in the Soils event. Being in Minnesota, it was run following their state FFA rules which are quite a bit different than what we have in Iowa. It was challenging, but a good opportunity to get practice identifying textures.
The Crops competition that Karson Wetrich competed in involved identifying many crop and weed seeds, as well as an exam.
In the leadership events, Kate Dau competed in Creed Speaking. She placed 3rd overall, and will compete in Iowa at the Sub-District level at Iowa Lakes Community College.
“For some of our members, this was their first time competing in an FFA event. It was great to see them challenge themselves and try something new.” said South O’Brien FFA Advisor Eric Kumm. “They now know what they need to work on to improve for the next competition at the SDSU Little “I” contest.