AMERICAN CRAFTSMANSHIP SINCE 1864

A ^{Chance To Ranch}

Despite an uncertain future,

this

FFA member

is

determined to become a rancher someday.

It's home.

Beenpartofthefamilysince 1841.

Since

my

ancestors crossedthe Plainsin a

wagon

train.

Butit'ssosplitup now.

Land

divided tooofteninthe

name

ofgivingeveryone afairshare ofthe

home

^{place.. .}

Thoughtsliketheseoftenrunthrough

Matthew

^Fiegel'shead. Matthew, 17, of Julian, California, figures it

may

soon be time for

him

to leave the family ranch

—

^there'ssimply not

enough

ranch togo around.

The

Fiegels ^live on a 2,500-acre cow/calf beef ranch near Julian, Cali- fornia.That

may

soundlikealotof land toa

Corn

^Belt farmer, but out on the range, it'sa dropin thebucket. Unlike

"Dallas,"where oil barons leap out of limosand ontohorses, therealworld of ranching revolves around

two

things:

living within your resources and tight management.

"I've lived here

my whole

^life,"

Matthew

saysoftheranch."But Idon't thinkit'sgoingtobe

mine

someday. I'm the third of four kids and it barely supportsus.

My dad

also

works

for the road department

and my mom

^is a waitress.

When

^I turn 18 orget out of highschool, I'll

more

orlessbe gone."

Matthew's challenge is not unlike those faced by

many young

people today. Like

Matthew, many

desire Matthew Fiegel, right, is confident of a careeras a rancher, despiteanuncertain future.Below, (Matthew"directs"asteer through a squeeze-chute.

careers in farming or ranching. But often the family business is not large

enough

tosupportanotherpartner.

That's

when

it's time to

make some

toughdecisions.

Matthew

hasdecidedhis

dream

istoo

importanttogive up.

He knows

whathe wants to

do

in life

—

even if it

means

leaving the family ranch

and

starting

somewhere

else.

"I

want

to go into ranch managing, (Continued on Page62)

56

Adjournment

is just the beginning.

The gavel

falls.

The crowd

filesout.

Another Future Farmers of America National Convention

is history.

And again,

the

Production

Credit

Associations and

Federal Land Bank Associations are

there

sponsoring one of

FFA's

most important programs — recognition

of the

American Farmer degree

recipients.

But our support doesn't end

at

adjournment.

In

fact,

our

local associations will

be involved with

many FFA

activities

throughout

the

country through- out

theyear.

Because we

believe

helping young people prepare

for

careers in agriculture

is

important

...

not only

forthe

well-being of

the

industry but

the

nation

and world

aswell.

That's why we want

to offer special

encouragement

to

those students considering careers

in

production agriculture

or agribusiness.

And why we pledge our continued support of FFA

— 365 days a year

y^^M -^;1¥l7VNDB7VNK

^~>^-m News, ^.Notes, ^->wanaandNonsenseNonsense trfrom Everywhere

by JackPitzer

The Dorman,

SC, Chapter safety committeeofferedahuntersafetyeduca- tion course in August.

The

course was conductedincooperation withthestate's

department of wildlife and marine re- sourcesandtaught

good

sportsmanship, proper huntingethics, proper

gun

han- dlingtechniquesandsafety.

N-N-N

Creighton,

NE, FFA

^{organizedapre-}

fairtractordriving contestintheschool parking lot. It let everybodyget ready forthe bigeventatthefair.

N-N-N

Officersofthe Cass

County

Voc-Tec

FFA

in

MO

^{spent a}three-day sessionin theOzarksplanningthe year'sactivities.

After their

work

they enjoyed trout fishing,

camping

and swimming.

N-N-N

Anthony

Wayne,

OH, FFA

partici- pated in Fascination

Day

at a local middle school

and

told students there about

FFA.

N-N-N

Reporter BarbraPereira ofthe

Mer-

ced,

CA, FFA

writes aboutthe

award

designed to salute hergrandfather

who

died last year.

He was

a farmer inthe

community

and like himself, his sons and grandchildren have been involved withthe

FFA. So

aspecialtributefund

was

established by family and friends and it

was

usedthis yeartopurchasea dairybuckletohonorthehighindividual onthedairyteam.

N-N-N

The

June meetingofthe North

Ma-

haska

FFA

in

New

Sharon, lA,

was

at

Lake Keomah

with a

swim

first.

The

air

wascool but_thewater

was warm.

N-N-N

Cara

D'Ann

Jernigan

was named

winnerofthe '84Mansfield,

TX, Alumni

scholarship.

The

S500 scholarship is

presented annually to a senior

who

through their leadership, scholarship andsupervised occupational experience programhasproventobeanoutstanding

member

ofthe local chapter.

N-N-N

The

George W.

Long

Chapter in Skipperville,

AL, won

thestatelivestock judgingcontest,and hadthestateswine productionwinner. PlussixStateFarmers

at theirsummer's stateconvention.

In

K

Y,FarmingtonandSedalia,Chap-

ters inGraves County,

worked

together to build an exhibit for their state fair.

The

themewas

"FFA —

^{KentuckyCrops,}

Keeping

America on

the

Grow."

N-N-N

Lee Scaggs

and

Chris Bilowpainted the vo-ag classroom this

summer

ⁱⁿ Mexico,

NY.

N-N-N

The

Centreville,

MI,

Chapter broke up the

summer

doldrums withan area Softball tourney. Cassopolis Chapter

won

overall.

One

big feature was the hotdogfeed for allparticipants.

N-N-N

In Deland, FL,

FFA members

are preparingforthefall

roundup —

^{a barbe-}

quedinner

and

rodeofor under18.

N-N-N

Freshmen and sophomore

studentsat

Agua

Fria,

AZ,

grew potatoes in their experimental dripsystem

and

thendo- nated the 150

pounds

ofpotatoes har- vestedtothe localfood bank.

N-N-N

Notus, ID, hosts a

goodbye

seniors danceto salute

and

saygoodbye.

N-N-N

Jerry Coats, reporterin Thayer,

MO,

sent

word

abouttheirchaptersponsored mini-rodgardentractor pullthisspring.

It

was

a success

and

sothey'replanning anotherthisfall.

N-N-N

There were 30

members and

guestsat the

DeWitt

Central, IA, Chapter

swim

partyat a localcountry club pool.

N-N-N

Melrose,

NM, Chapter banquet wrapped

upawhole year ofsuccess.

N-N-N

From

the Carrizozo,

NM,

Chapter Greyand

Lynn

Gallagher,

John Roueche and Mary

Jane Ferguson receivedthe State

Farmer

degreeatthestateconven-

tion.Also Advisors Gainesand Ferguson were giventhe

Honorary

State

Farmer

degrees.

N-N-N

Albuquerque

Cibola,

NM,

Chapter started a vidoetape library this year.

They've taped guest speakers,

member

publicspeakingentries,theawards ban- quetand otherchapteractivities.

Jimmy

Carpenteristhefourth

member

ofthe Carroll County,

VA,

Chapterto beselected asStarStateAgribusinessman

in four years.

He was

also elected toa state office. His

two

brotherswerealso officers ofthe state association.

N-N-N

Big Timber,

MT, FFA

has elected twin brothers as reporters

—

Bill and Fred

Harmon.

Itwill testtheoldsaying

"two heads are betterthanone."

N-N-N

Cobleskill,

NY,

banquet slide

show

roastedoutgoing

and

incomingofficers.

N-N-N

ShelleyOlson

won

a$100 scholarship for a senior

member

ofthe Lexington,

OK,

Chapter

who

planstoattendcollege.

N-N-N

In order to ensure attendance

and

avoidanylossoffood

and

finances,the

Cumberland

Valley,

PA,

required a cash reservation be

made by members

for the

FFA

picnic.

N-N-N

Arroyo

Grande,

CA,

Chapter hosts an annualjuniorlivestockfairdesigned tohelp

4-H members

(ages 9-16)prepare themselves

and

their animals for the localfairs.

N-N-N

Zillah,

W

A,

won

the"InClub"

award

atthestateconventionfor gettingevery

member

involvedin at leastonechapter projectduring theyear.

N-N-N

Received a brief message

from

one chapter:Silo,

OK, FFA

^bleedsforchar-

ity.

Some

47students

and

teachersgave.

N-N-N

Easton- Fresno,

CA,

held an open houseinthe spring so their

community

couldobservetheimprovements inthe vo-agdepartment.

N-N-N

The FFA's

contributionfortheCleve- land,

OK,

^pioneerdaycelebration

was

a children's barnyard. Animals included threehorsesforthekids to ride.

N-N-N

Keep

theoldmail

pouch

full

now

that chaptersarebackinsession.

What

neat things aregoing

on

toincrease

member-

ship?

Or

participation?

Or SOEP?

Don't wait for the reporter to send in

news

aboutyourchapter,

you

can

do

it.

58 _TlieSalionalFITL

RE FARMER

.\w-

Say Yes To... y^

PanJuuuUB Slim