IF YOU CAN

Froma humblestartwith sheep,

Kenny

went ontobe national

FFA

president.

National FFA President Kenny McMillan learned he would have

to taste

defeat hefore winning success.

By Paul Weller

THE ^FATHER

^bent over with the small orphan lamb and gave it

gently to his seven-year-old son.

Now

theboy would havehisvery

own

projectto care for.

The

time was the early 1950's; the place was a 160-acre rented farm near Prairie City, Illinois:

andtheboy was

Kenny

McMillan.

Kenny

raised that first Iamb, sold

it, and invested the

money

in a regis- tered Hampshire ewe to start his

own

sheepenterprise. His sheepflockgrew over the next few years, and a start in farming seemed not too difficult a goal. Butlittledid theshyandhesitant high school freshman realize that first

day in vo-ag class that over the next fiveyears he would have toexperience bitter failure before success could be his. His story

became

oneoffaithand a strongrefusal toacceptdefeat.

"I recollect

how

I used to sit and stare attheFoundation

Award

plaques onthechapterwall. I asked over and over

how

^I too might win one," he recalls. This was the same boy

who

had dreamed of the day

when

he too could wear an

FFA

jacket like the older boys. Itusually

became

the topic of discussion

when

he and his father, Keith, traveled

home

from vo-ag fairs insurrounding Illinois communities.

That first year in the

FFA. Kenny

did as any typical Green

Hand

would.

He

began to build a livestock enter- prise. Sheep had been a McMillan trademark since Kenny's father had been a charter

member

of the Bar- dolph

FFA

Chapter 25 years before.

Kenny'sflockof eightregistered

Hamp-

shires was his initial start.

The

hard routine of lambing from

November

through April, fitting from April until July, showinguntil September, and the sales in the fall

became

second nature to

Kenny

in his first year as a Future Farmer.

Kenny's fellow Future Farmers elected him chapter secretary at the beginning of his sophomore year, and his

FFA

future began to be shaped.

It was at a sectional leadership train- ing school that State

FFA

President

Don

Kimmel's speech lit a spark in Kenny's life. "Set

some

goals and

work

toward success" were Kimmel's thoughts, and 15-year-old

Kenny Mc-

Millan went

home

that night with just that in mind.

Soon after, at the National Conven- tion,

Kenny

sat at a breakfast session and heard the speakerexpound on the influential "seven magic words"

—

"You

can ifyouthinkyoncan!"

The

Illinois Future

Farmer knew

he had found a motto in this inspiringsentence.

The

next two years in vo-ag and

FFA

were filled with an array of set- backs for

Kenny

McMillan.

The

time at the sectional fair that the proud Future

Farmer

led his heifer in front of veteran

showmen,

only to have her break

away

at the last moment.

The

time

when Kenny

waschapter president and overlooked an important require- ment,keepinghischapterfrom winning

its first "Superior" rating.

Not

long after,

Kenny

ran for sectional vice president and was once

more

defeated.

He

tried for the Foundation

Award

insheepproductionand onceagainlost atthestate level.

As

asenior hetried again and this time didn't even

make

it through thedistrict competition. But

. . . // you

think

you can

always there was his advisor,

W.

R.

Thornton,

who

extended a protective

arm

andsaid,

"Keep

working^{. ..}

some

day we'llwin!"

And

never did

Kenny

forget those seven magic words

when

defeat seemedhis fate.

Public speakingwas Kenny'sfavorite, and he entered the local contest.

He

went

down

fighting inthedistrictfinals.

Once

again he tried, and once again hefailed towinthestate title. But out of defeat

Kenny

saw that good experi- ence was his award.

He

devoted his timetoschool activitiesand worked up topositionsof leadershipincommittees, contests, and shows. With defeat for sectional vice president

came

election as sectional reporter, and

Kenny

got valuable experience as editor of the

"Section I1 Future Farmer."

This experience added greatly to Kenny'selectionto state

FFA

president in 1961-62, and AdvisorThornton as- sured him.

"We

didwin!" Butallwas not free of failure again for Kenny.

His trips from freshman studies atthe Universitv of Illinois to

FFA

activities contributed to his "sinking" to failure in

swimming

classat school. Then,on leave from college.

Kenny

traveled to theNationalConventionas acandidate for national office. Eight times the committee interviewed him that week, but this time he didn't taste defeat.

Kenny

McMillan was

named

national president of 395.812

members

of the

FFA.

His experience wasn't too unlike that of

Abraham

Lincoln,

who

lost nearly everything he attemptedtodo

—

exceptbecomingPresident of theUnited States!

Since lastNovember.

Kenny

and his familyhave

moved

toanotherfarmfive miles south of Bushnell. Illinois.

On

its 218 acres are 400 hogs, 80 head of Polled Herefords. plus corn and grain.

An

additional 180acresisrented by

Kenny

and ^his 17-year-oldbrother.

Eddie.

When Kenny

returnsto collegeafter his duties expire,hewill leave alot of memories behind him. But something he will always carry through life will be the inspiration fromtheseven magic words. Without their guidance, he could not have

become

your national president.

TheNational

FUTURE FARMER

Inexpensive

electric

tans for livestock ventilation are improving weight gains and carcass grades, savs

this researcl

l{\

Harold Stover

Typical electric fans that can easily

be adapted for use in circulating air in closed-end sheds or through ducts.

E

Portable electric fan can be into hot corners for instant

lied lief.

VIDENCE

is piling up in favor of fan-cooling beef cuttle during hot weather. Cooling comfort

is no different for them than it is for

human

beings. According to tests run inCalifornia and Florida, a good fan- cooling system in a pen or feedlotcan encourage better weight gains and feed utilization, and this

means

a boost in netprofit.

Accordingto researchersintheareas where cooling has been tried, livestock are depressed by temperatures over 75 degrees. However, researchshows that cattle in awell-ventilatedpengain better than those in a poorly ventilated one.

even though temperatures are not low- ered

much

bytheair movement.

Where

42-inch diameter fans were installed delivering about 17.000

cfm

intwocattlepens, theresultswerevery favorableinpromotingbetter gains. In two-year records, the daily gain aver- age was 44 percent better where fan- coolingwas used for thefirst yearand 22 percent better the second. This is

compared

to noair movement. In ad- dition, the cooling resulted in 30 ^per- cent and 19 percent, respectively, less feed per 100 pounds of gain for the two-year period.

The

fans were located so that the cattle were constantly in the breeze.

Fans were set to blow lengthwise of theshadedareasandinthe

same

direc- tionas natural air movement.

August-September, 1963

In another installation, steers were pennedin two 30- by 40-foot areas in a pole shelter barn.

One

area had a 42-inch. 16.000 cfm fan set to run at temperatures above 75 degrees.

The

other area without a fan was used as a check.

In this test the fan-cooledcattle ate slightly

more

feed than those without a fan. However,the fan-cooled steers, due to heavier carcasses and slightlj higher grade, returned a higher net profit ofS3.32 per animal.

Other producers in

many

states are also claiming good results.

The

use of large fans in cattle sheds also is

showingareductionin theflyproblem.

The

use of a 42-inch fan operated bya one-third horsepower electric

mo-

tor will costapproximately 12 centsper 10-hour day to operate. This isbased

upon

acostforelectricityof2centsper kilowatt hour.

The

conventional type of attic fan as used in the

home

for attic cooling will work very well for such installations.

This ventilation system is also very effective forthe farrowinghousein hot weather.

The

air circulation needed is

basedon approximately 200 cubic feet of air

movement

per minute per

sow

andlitter, or 15 air changes per hour, whichever is greater.

The

air flow should be directed so that no cold drafts are present on baby pigs, but with

maximum

airmotion onthesows.

33

As farming becomes highly specialized and competitive. Future Farmers must turn

to

carefully planned records

to

help them farm profitably.

By

Paul Welter

THE _come

^{full-time farmeryouwill be-}

ina short timehas taken on a

new

image.

Now

referred to as"thebusinessman ina bluedenim suit." the

modern

farmer today runs a complex business where records and careful

management

areasnecessaryas tractors andplows.

With afarminvestmentrunninginto five and six figures, the farmer needs a careful analysis to safeguard against unnecessary spending and low-yielding farmenterprises.

Your

best answer lies in good farm records; for only after provinganenterpriseprofitablethrough recordscanyou expandwith confidence.

Working

closely with records, the pro- fessional farmanalyst,

whom

you

may

employ to study youroperation, needs information ofthis kindto help deter- mine which enterprises are the most profitableforyourfarm.

Several alternatives are open to you

now

as aFuture Farmer tochoose the record-keeping method best suited to

34

your

own

farming situation.

You

will find that adult farmers in your com- munity use a variety of ways to keep records

—

from professional manage- mentservices tothebackof the kitchen calendar.

An

informal survey taken

among

26 midwestern farmers showed them to be keeping records in the fol- lowing manner:

Bank

Record

Book

7

Farm

Bureau

Management

5

Purchased Ledger 4

Elevator

Book

1

Notebook

2

On

aCalendar 3

Looseina

Drawer

2

Check

Book

Only 2

Itshould beyourresponsibility to select a good

method

andlearn

how

touse ^it with the help of your vo-ag instructor.

Let's take a typical

FFA

chapter in the farming

community

of DeKalb.

Illinois. Here, as with most chapters, theFuture Farmer workswith a stand-

ard record book approved bythe state vo-ag department. Advisor Robert

Brown

plans various blocks of instruc- tionaroundtheuse of theIllinois

Farm

Record Book. Basically, this farmrec- ordbookisaseriesof loose pages,com- bined to be used forreceipts, expendi- tures, and ^a farm business analysis.

Each enterprise can be kept separate, while

room

isleftforfiguringdeprecia- tionandinventories.Future Farmersre- ceive the set of record books free as partoftheirvo-aginstruction.

Each farm record book in this par- ticular classisclosedouton

December

31^, and a

new

one started the first of theyear.Forfour years

DeKalb

Fu- tureFarmerswill

work

withbothhypo- thetical and

home

farm problems.

No

doubt,your

own

chapter has

much

the same program to give you practical

work

withyourlocallyapprovedrecord book.

With

this method, little or no outside helpis needed.

Thislocalrecordbookwillmostlike- TheNational

FUTURE FARMER

Thefather, FutureFarmer,andadvisor

team

isanexcellentoneto plan the

method

ofkeeping recordsonthe

home

farm.

lyhe thefirst method youwill

come

in contact with for farm records. With it

you do your

own

work, keep all sum- maries of farm changes, and can even

make

your

own

farm analysis. If after graduation you need help or guidance with thisself-keptrecord keeping, your local

Young

Farmer class is a good place togo. In addition, with complete records in one ofthese hooks, any tax consultant can work with you at the end ofof theyear.

If your farm mortgage is held by a local hank, more than likely an agent fromthat instittitionwillgiveyou your second farm record alternative.

One

bank

we know

of displaysthissign:

"No Farm

Records

— No

Credit."

To

get credityou must convince thehankthat your farming venture is sound. Con- sequently,

many

banksappointanagent to supervise and work with the fanner on keeping farm records. It you fall withinthis bank-audited type of record keeping, you will find that the agent

August-September,1963

makes periodical trips to your farm to provideassistance. Mostoften,thebank requests that you use their method for records. Fees for this service aretaken from your net income reported to the bank where you

owe

yourmortgage.

A

third, and widely used method, is

hiring the program of a professional farm

mangement

service.

One

example

that

we

vvill use here is the

Farm

Bu-

reau

Farm Management

Service used in the midwestern farming areas. With thismethod, you receive arecord book from the professional fieldman

who

is

assigned to approximately 200 farmers in vour area.

You make

^{entries in the} book

much

the same as you would ⁱⁿ the vo-ag issued record. However, vour fieldman will

make

from three to five visitstoyour farmayeartogooverthe book to

make

sure there are no mis- takes. With this finished, he mav even assist you in making such decisions as crop rotations, new farmingenterprises, and

more

equipment.

When

it comestime to closeout this professionally audited record book, the fieldman assists vou with this chore.

Then vour records aresent toacentral point wherethev arc analyzedandcom- pared with other farmers in the state.

You

getbackan ideaofhow vou rank with other farmers withvoursizeopera- tion.

The

cost ot thisplanvariesaccord- ingtoyouracreage, withcostsaveraging from S50 up to S200. in

some

cases.

This ^is just one professional record service.Thereareothers,but thediffer- ences areslight.

Although you'll find variations in

methods from state to state and slight changesinthefarmingoperations, these three tvpes of farm records will prevail inmostareas.You, ^astomorrow's

mod-

ern farmer,willneedtochoose your

own

methodof keeping andanalyzing costs, receipts, and

management

decisions in order to successful!) compete with the agricultural^pricesqueeze.

35