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Have you looked

at Ford New Holland

lately?

Five awards for

innovative engineering in one year.

No one ever did that before.

Eachyear theAmericanSocietyof Agri- culturalEngineersacknowledgesexcellence inengineering innovationanddesign.In 1989,Ford

New

Holland

won

five

awards—

an accomplishment neverachieved before, byanyone.

The

winnersare:

A

feedingsystemforrectangular balersthat providesimprovedbalequality, inavariety of crops,withminimal adjustment and maintenance.

A

wide pickupdesignforroundbalersthat provides dense,solidbalesforimproved weathering.

An

automatic knifesharpeningandshear- baradjustmentsystemforforage harvesters thatprovidesa

more

uniformlengthofcut.

An

electronic lockoutsystemof the

boom

hydraulics

on

skid-steerloadersthatpro- videsincreasedoperatorsafety.

And,

a totally

new product—

A windrow

inverterthatprovidesfaster crop-dryingtimeinweather-sensitivehay-

making

operations.

Innovation

means

market shareleadership

We

won'treston ourlaurels.Earlier thisyear,

we

introduced theFordUltra-

Command™

powershift transmission, the firstelectronicallycontrolled powershiftin the100-plushorsepower,two-wheel-drive class.Also

new

for1990isthe

Model

9030,a

100-horsepowerBidirectional™tractor that

an

^pushor pullimplements,ordoboth simultaneously.

It'stheseaward-winninginnovationsthat

make

Ford

New

Holland^amarket-share leaderin

many

^productcategories,andhelp explain

why

Ford

New

Hollandisoneof the strongest, fastestgrowingequipment manufacturers.

Innovations,liketheUltra-Command"

powershift transmission, helpmake Ford

New

Holland anindustry leader

Committed

todoingthings right

Our commitment

toinnovation

and

qualityisbest reflected in thewordsof

Ag

ricultural

En

_gineering magazine's^edi-

tor—

"Intoday's stronglycustomer-driven environment,truly innovativeengineering inproductorsystems technologyisof par-

amount

importance.This

makes

Ford

New

Holland'sfiveaward achievement particularlynoteworthy."

Take

alookatFord

New

Holland.

You'lllike

what you

see.

l\EWHOLLAI\D

Magazine

Staff

Edilor-in-Chiel,WilsonW.Carries SeniorEditor,JohnM.Ptaer ManagingEditor.AndrewMarkwart PublishingAssistant.LindaFlint Director olAdvertising,GlennD.Luedke AdvertisingAssistant,JoyceBern/man Circulation FulfillmentManager,DottieM. Hinkle Assistants,JanetMagill,Harriett Fidd,NoraBartock, Veronica Ruffner

National Officers

National President, Donnell Brown,Hwy.380West,Box 789, Throckmorton,TX76083; National Secretary, Scott Crouch,1528East Port Court. Cicero,IN46034;

National Vice Presidents, William Henricksen, Rt3,Box 374, DeWitt,IA52742;CaseyIsom,P.O.Box455, Fruitland.ID83619; Bradley Lewis. Rt1,Box183-1A, Elkmont,AL35620;DanSchroer,R.R. #1.Fairground Farm,NewBremen,OH45869.

Board

ofDirectors

Chairman, LarryCase;Membersotthe Board, David Coffey,JohnDenmark,TerryHeiman,Leonard Lombardi,Donald Michael,TomMunter,LesThompson, WilliamT.Woody

NationalStaff National Advisor, Chief ExecutiveOfficer,LarryCase;

Executive Secretary,ColemanHarris;National Treasurer, DavidA. Miller;AdministrativeDirector,WilsonW.

Carnes;ManagerofInternationalPrograms, Lennie Gamage; FFA ProgramSpecialist(Awards), Robert Seefeldt;FFA Program Manager(Contests),Carol Duval;

FFA ProgramSpecialist(Leadership),TonyHoyt;FFA Programspecialist(Membership), Marshall Stewart;

DirectorofInformation,William Stagg; Director ofFFA Supply Service. Dennis Shafer; Executive DirectorFFA Alumni Association, RobertW.Cox;Managerof Accounting,JoAnn Grimes

Advertising Offices FFANewHorizons

P.O.Box 15160

Alexandria,VA22309 703-360-3600

TheBrassettCompany 5150WilshireBoulevard Los Angeles,CA90036 Midwestern States Karaban/Labiner Associates,Inc.

333NorthMichiganAvenue Chicago,IL60601

Pennsylvania. Delaware.NewJersey Karaban/Labiner Associates,Inc.

130West 42ndStreet NewYork,NY10036 Peter C.Kelly, Inc.

725SouthAdamsRoad #260 Birmingham,Ml48009

Robert FlahiveCompany 22Battery Street SanFrancisco,CA9411

1

ADDRESS CHANGES:Sendbotholdandnewaddressto;

CirculationDepartment,FFANewHorizons,P.O.Box 15160, Alexandria,Virginia22309-0160.

CORRESPONDENCE:Addressallcorrespondenceto:

FFANewHorizons,P.O.Box15160, Alexandria,Virginia 22309-0160. Offices locatedattheNationalFFACenter, approximatelyeightmiles southofAlexandria,Virginia.

SUBSCRIPTION:$3.50 per yearinU.S.andpossessions (FFA members$1.75paid with dues). Singlecopy$1.50;

fiveormore 75c^each.Foreignsubscriptions.$3.50 plus

$2.00 extraforpostage. Copyright1990bythe National FFAOrganization.

213-934-8502

313-642-1228

fiZT

THE BOTTOM ^LINE

Faced

^witha declining

membership,

itisabsolutelyneces- sarythat

FFA

continuallyupdateitsprograms andactivi- tiesto

meet

theneeds ofstudents.

With

thisinmind,a special

Task

Force authorized

by

the

Board

ofDirectors

and

NationalOfficersinJanuaryisstudyingtheNational

FFA

Centeroperations. Their chargeisquitebroadbut essentially theywillreviewthe

goods and

servicesprovided

by

the

FFA

Centerasanintegralpartofacontemporaryagriculturaleduca- tionprogram,

examine and

updateorganizational structureand staffing patterns, administration policies

and

procedures,rela- tionshipwiththeNational

FFA

Foundation andother agricultural educationorganizations.

The

groupwillreporttheirfindingsand

recommendations

tothe

Board

ofDirectorsinJanuary of1991.

The Task

Force helditsfirstmeeting June 25-27,ⁱⁿAlexan- dria,Virginia.

While much

oftheir

work

ispreliminaryat this point,thereappearedtobe generalagreementthatanyrecom- mendations

coming from

the

Task

Force should followthe strategicplanfor agricultural education.

The

nextmeetingis

scheduledfor

August

27-29,alsoinAlexandria.

Members

ofthe

Task

Forceare:

Rosco Vaughn,

chairman, incoming

member

ofthe

Board and

statesupervisor,

New

Mexico;

Terry

Heiman, member

ofthe

Board and

statedirectorof

Ag

^Ed,

Missouri; Jay Eudy,directorof

Ag

Ed, Texas; Barbara Kirby, assistant professorof

Ag

Ed, North CarolinaState University;

Richard Katt, asupervisor

and

executive secretary of

FFA,

Nebraska; Jasper Lee,professor

and

head ofthe

Department

of

Ag and

Extension Education,Mississippi State University;

Doug

Spike,agteacherandpresidentof

NVATA,

Michigan;

Wilson

Carnes,administrative director

FFA,

Virginia;

and Dana

Soukup,

Nebraska

or

Kevin

Yost,

Kansas

representing past national

FFA

officers. Bill Henricksen, national

FFA

vice president

from

Iowa,represents the current national^officers.Larry Case,na- tional

FFA

^advisor

and Coleman

Harris, national executive secretarybothserve as ex-officio

members

ofthe

Task

Force.

The Task

Force can

make

a

major

contributiontohelpachieve thegoals ofthe strategicplanfor agricultural education.

So

can

you and

yourchapter. Hereisthe challenge.

Examine

your

own

agriculturedepartmentand

FFA

chapterinrelationshiptothe followinggoalssetforthin

"The

StrategicPlanfor Agricultural Education."

How do you

rate?

Goal

1:

To

update instruction in agriculture and

expand programs

aboutagriculture.

Goal

2:

To

serveallpeople

and

groupsequally

and

without discrimination.

Goal

3.

To

amplify

and expand

the

"whole

person"concept of education, including leadership, personalandinterpersonalskills.

Goal

4:

To

develop educational programsthat continuallyand systematicallyrespondtothe trendsand

demands

ofthemarket place.

Goal

5:

To

providethe stimulithatwillfosterthespiritoffree enterprise

and

developcreativeentrepreneurship

and

innovation.

Goal

6:

To

provideleadership

and

cultivatestrong partner- shipsinthetotaleducational system.

Goal

7:

To

elevate

and

extend ourstandardsof excellenceⁱⁿ classroom

and

laboratory instruction,supervised experience

and

student organizations.

FFANewHorizons

FFA

NewHotizons

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL FFA ORGANIZATION

August-September,1990 Volume 39Number6

COVER STORY FEATURES

16

Hot With A Rope

Jerry

Wayne Courson

of Live

Oak,

Florida,helped capturethe

1989

National

High

School

Rodeo

Associa-

tion

team

roping

championship

with hisquick,accurate ropingskills.

Photo by Andrew Markwart.

10

Agriculture's New Professionals:

Agricultural Research Mike Brown

researches

ways

forsmall

familyfarmstobe

more

efficient.

28

36

Creative Cash

From

citrussales toraffle tickets,here are thefavoritefund-raisingactivities

of

FFA's

topchapters.

44

PEOPLE

FFA the Beautiful An

exciting

new

muralgreets visitors

totheNational

FFA

Center.

Naturally Exciting

Wildlife

and

naturalresourceclasses

are

becoming more

popular.

18

Happy

Trails

Even

MilliVanillihasvisitedthis

FFA member's

family guestranch.

22

For the Birds Kreg Coggins

has

worked

hardto

improve

the wildlife habitat

around

his

home. The

resultsare exciting.

DEPARTMENTS 32

Nature's Friend Tyrone

Calfee has replantedover 12,000 pinetreesinlocal forests.

4 Bottom

Line

6 News

inBrief

8

Looking

Ahead

9

Mailbag

34

^Chapter

Scoop

48 FFA

InAction

51 ^My

^Turn

52 ^{Joke Page}

FFANewHorizons(ISSN 0027-9315), formerlyTheNationalFUTURE FARMER,Ispublishedbimonthlybythe NationalFFAOrganization,5632Mount Vernon Memorial Highway,Alexandria, Virginia 22309-0160.

August-September,1990

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NEWS ^IN BRIEF

Carol

Duval

Duval Named Manager of Contests and Awards

CarolDuval, Alexandria,Virginia,has been

named Program

Manager-Contests

and Awards

attheNational

FFA

Organi- zation. Duval,27,

began

hercareeratthe

FFA

in1986asaninternintheContests Department.

By

1988 she

was

coordinat- ing the Agriscience

and

Building

Our American Communities

programs.

Inher

new

position,

Duval

will

work

withagriculturalleadersacross thecoun- try to conduct

and

refine

FFA's

contest

and awards

pro- grams.

Duval

hasa degreeinagricultural education

from

the University of

Ne-

vada,

Reno, where

shestarted a colle- giate

FFA

chapter.

She

is a

former member

of the

Ruby

Mountain-Elko,

Nevada FFA

chapter

and

servedas the

Nevada

state

FFA

re-

porterin1981-82.

Duval's

new

po- sition

was

created afterformer

program

specialist

Ted Amick

resignedJuly1after 16 years ofservice

on

thenational

FFA

staff.

Amick was

in- strumentalindevel-

opingtheBuilding

Our American Com-

munities

program and

spearheaded such

new

efforts as Agriscience

and

Agri- marketing.

He

also servedasaboard

member

oftheNationalCouncilforAgri- culturalEducation.

Amick

willcontinue hisinvolvementinagriculturaleducation asa consultantbasedoutofhis

new

resi- dencein

Chadd's

Ford,Pennsylvania.

FFA Anthem Performed Live Washington

Conference

Program

par- ticipantsrecently

were

treatedtothefirst liveperformance of "America,

We Are

the

FFA" by

thesong'scomposer,

Alan

Ross.

Accompanying

himself

on

acoustic guitar,

Ross

performedthesongforsix groups of

FFA members

attheNational

FFA

CenterinAlexandria,Virginia.

The Ted Amick

Alan Ross

videoversionofthesong,complete with a studioproduced soundtrack,

was

pre- mieredatthe1

987

National

FFA Conven-

tion.

Ross

isaprofessional

music

composer/

producer

and

isthehead of

RINCON

Co., basedinNashville,Tennessee.

He was

in Washington, D.C., promotinga

commer-

cialsampler tape

when

he accepted an offer toplayatthe

FFA

Center.

Mantey Interns

at

Magazine Sue

Mantey, anagricultural

communi-

cations

major

at

Ohio

StateUniversity, has joinedthe

FFA New

Horizons

maga-

zinestaffduringJune

and

July.

Mantey was

selected

from

a

number

ofapplicants vyingforthe

American

AgriculturalEdi- tors' Asso- c iatio

n magazine

internship.

The

in- ternship is

sponsored by

theChi- cago

Board of Trade, where Man-

tey spent three

days observing how

the future'smarketsfunction.

FFA New

Horizons

was

alsoselectedoutofa

number

ofother agriculturalmagazinesto host

AAEA's

intern.

Watch

forMantey's articlesin thisissue

and

theOctober-No-

vember

issue.

FFA

New

Horizons

Sue Mantey

ft

fit'

m*

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LOOKING AHEAD

USDA Labs Give Students a Head

Start

on Science Careers

In the last ten years, over 2,000 high schoolstudents pur- suedcareers inagriculturalre- search.

Some

ofthese students got aheadstartatU.S. Depart-

ment

of Agriculturelaboratories across the country.

Jane Giles,Agriculture

Re-

searchService personneldirec- tor,said the researchagencytakes inapproximately

200

students each year throughitsResearch Apprentice program.

CollegestudentNikola Lock- etthas

worked

attheSouthern Regional Research Center in

New

Orleans, Louisiana since herjunioryearinhighschool.

Lockett

works on

a projectwith scientiststoimprovecottonfi-

ber quality.

Although

she is

majoringinpharmacy, she says thelab

work

has helped herreal- ize"researchis

where

I

want

to be."

The

experiences of Lockett

and

othersinthe

ARS programs

couldfilla frightening

gap

in thiscoun- try's scientific expertise, according to Giles.

"Over

thelast

few

years,fewer

Ameri-

can students

seem

motivated topursue careersinscience

and

engineering," Giles said.

"At

the

same

time,

demand

for peopleinthese professions^is

on

theup- swing.

We're

concerned

enough

about thedecreasingstudent interestinscience

and

engineering that we're continually lookingfor

ways

tosparkthe interestof

young

people."

Eye

in

the Sky

A new

videoforfarmers

and

ranchers can'tbe foundatthe localvideostore.

A USDA

scientist said thatspecial color videos taken fromplanesat3 ,000to12,500 feetcanrevealoutbreaksof weeds, in- sects

and

plant diseases.

According

to

James

Everitt of the Agricultural ResearchService, agricul- tural consultants in the U.S.

may

offer farmersthesevideosinabouta year.

The

In studies to

improve

cotton fiberquality, student Nikola Lockett

measures

thequality of cotton plantsina

USDA

laboratory.

videos will allow farmers to act

more

quicklyto protectcrops

and

livestock

and

to

make

betteruseoffertilizers

and

pesti- cides.

It isnotexpectedthataerialvideowill replaceaerialphotography

and

satellite data,butitdoes provide cheaper

and

faster information.

On

aflight,threecameras recordthe

same

shotthroughdifferentfilters

which

arethencompiled onto

one

tape called a color-infraredimage. Colordifferences

from

thevaryinglight-reflecting proper- ties ofplants

and

soil reveal potential problems such as

mounds

built

by

de- structive harvester ants incotton fields

and

pastureschlorosis,aniron deficiency thatyellowsgrain

sorghum

leaves,salin- ity

and

waterloggingin soils;andnitrogen deficiencies as well as overallcrop vigor in alfalfa,

com,

cotton

and

othercrop

and

rangeplants.Otherpossible applications includemonitoringpest controlprograms, hail assessment and flood

damage

for insurance claims,

and

estimating crop production.

Cell

Growth PredictsWeight Gain

Imaginepredicting the yearlingweight ofsteers while theyare still calves.

A

benefit

would

be increasedefficiencyof beefproduction.

Recentstudiesat

Iowa

StateUniver- sityhave

shown

it

may

be possible to predict the futuregrowthpotentialofcalves

from

thegrowth oftheir^{cells in}culture.

The

cellsareobtained

by removing

a small sample ofskin

from

a calf's ear usinganear notcher.

The

sampleistaken toa laboratory

where

itissectionedinto thinslices

and

placedinpetridishes.

Research has

shown

thatthecellgrowth inthepetridishcorrespondstothe ani- mal's weight at later ages, said Allen Trenkle,

ISU

animalscience professor.

Cells

from

fast-growing animals

grow

fasterinculture.

Many

animalscanbe evaluated using the

new

celltissue technique,

which

only takes about

two weeks

to complete, Trenkle said. "It

may

be possible to predict yearlingweightfrom samples taken atbirth."

The Turnip

Alternative

Turnipsare turningouttobeahitwith sheep,accordingtoaU.S.

Department

of Agriculturereport.

Since 1986, animalnutritionistSteven Hart hasletsheepgraze

on

pasturesplanted withPurpletop, a familiar table varietyof turnip.Hart

works

attheForage

and

Live- stock Research Laboratory operated

by USDA's

Agricultural Re- search ServiceatElReno,

Oklahoma.

"The

sheep gain well

on

turnips,"Hart said. "They'lleatthe leaves first, then the topofthe turnip.

Then

they'llactually eat

down

the heartofthe turnip, but they don'tpull

them

outof theground."

Turnipsproduce twicethedry matter of winter

wheat

for forage

—

about four tonsof dry matter peracre for grazing.

That

means

turnipscould be an

economi-

cal alternativetowinter

wheat

as asource of cool-weathergrazing.

Hart saidhe has beenable toplant turnipsin lateSeptember,putsheep

on

the pasturein lateOctober andlet

them

graze untilChristmas.

FFA

New

Horizons

flZ7

M A

^I

L B A G

New Creed— Pro & Con

The

Livingston

FFA

Chaptersees

no

needtorevisethe

FFA

^Creed.

The

creed, written

by E.M.

Tiffany,hasbeen around for alongtime.Ifitis

changed

itmight not

mean

the

same

thingtous as thecreed

we

have

now

does.

Why change

itto

mean

somethingelse?

Signed by

64 members

Livingston,Texas

Ibelieve that a

new

creed should be written.

The

current creed focuses

on

farming,

and

farmingonly, as the objec- tive ofour organization.

However,

to- day'sagricultureisverydiverse,

and

our creed shouldreflect this.

Ithinka

new

creed should^reflectthe views ofthe entire

membership.

^Itshould stress

more modern

agricultural careers,

and

possibly a clause forthose

who do

not evenenter thefieldofagriculture.

As

in the current creed,Ithinkthatleadership should be heavily stressed along with cooperation

and working

withothers.

When

these changes are

made

the National

FFA

Organizationwillbe ready tochargefullsteaminto therestofthe decade

and

soon,a

new

century.

BrettBirchmeier Chesaning,

Michigan As

afreshmaninagriculture,Itookthe opportunity to recite the creed at

my Greenhand

Initiation.Thatnight

was one

of

my

proudestnightsinthe

FFA.

As

I

began

to recite the creed,Ifelt somethinginsideof

me:

a feelingofgreat admirationfor

what

thecreed stood^for.It stands for

freedom and

change.

The

world in

which we

live,

work and

grow,allare the

same

world.

Idon'tfeel that

we

needa

new

creedor needto

make

changes.

The FFA

Creed,

My

Creed,

Our Creed

isa"philosophy"to liveby.

Lee Ann

Elder Taylorsville,Kentucky

Sendlettersor notes withname,addressand chapterto

MAILBAG, FFA New

Horizons P.O.

Box

15160, Alexandria,

VA

22309.All lettersare subjecttoediting.

August-September,1990

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Agriculture's New Professionals

Agricultural Research

By Sandy

^Miller

Hays

From

^thesweat

^{marks on}

his Stetson tothescuff

marks

alonghisboots,

Mike Brown

has

"cowboy"

written allover him.

That might

seem

alittlemisleadingfor a researchscientist

working

for the fed- eral

government —

theU.S.

Department

ofAgriculture's Agricultural Research Service,tobeprecise.

But

Michael Adrian

Brown

isn'tthe stereotypical research^scientist, and his labisn'tthe stereotypical research^facil- ity.There are white lab coats

and

test tubes,ofcourse.

But

the SouthCentral Family

Farm

Research

Lab

atBooneville, Arkansas,isalso

home

to"Red," "Cat"

and

"Blue,"saddlehorsesthathavea

way

withcattle.

Brown

jokes that there are special problems

when

your lab inventory in- cludes not only computers,but also

cow

ponies:

"We

can't getthose'Propertyof U.S.

Government'

stickerstostay

on

the horses."

The

mission ofthe nine-year-oldSouth CentralFamily

Farms

Research Lab,as its

name

implies,istofind

new ways

the family farmer canharvest the

most

bene-

fits

from

the land.Consequently,research projectsrange

from

cattlegrazingstudies tofinding

ways

to

make

smallfruit

and

vegetablecrops

more

profitable.

Brown

has special

empathy

for the small familyfarmer.

A

nativeofTulsa,

Oklahoma,

he

comes from

a farming family.

As

ateenager

growing up

in

Broken

Arrow,

Oklahoma, Brown was

veryac- tive inthe

Broken Arrow FFA

chapter, serving

on

itsdairyjudging team, soil judging team,raising

and showing

dairy cattleandswine,andparticipatinginpublic speakingcompetitions.

He was

chapter vicepresidentinhissenior year.

"Ijoined

FFA

as afreshman,"here- called.

"One

thing

we had

to

do when we

joined

FFA ^was make

a

commitment

to pursue a career in agriculture.

Once

I

make

a

commitment,

Istickwithit."

After graduating

from Broken Arrow High

Schoolin1968,

Brown went on

to earnbachelor'sand master's degreesin animal science

and

aPh.D. in animal breeding, all

from Oklahoma

StateUni- 10

Mike Brown

isthe

USDA research

leaderatthe

South Central Family Farm Research Lab

in Boonville,

Arkansas.

versityatStillwater.

He

then joinedthe facultyofSouth

Dakota

State University, teachingcoursesinbeef production

and

statistics.Threeyearslater,he

was

backin

Oklahoma, managing

his father-in-law's ranch^at

Amber.

Brown's

time

on

his father-in-law's ranch

had

almost convinced

him

totake

up

farmingfull-time

when ARS

offered

him

a positionin1980as astatistician at Stoneville, Mississippi.

He came

to the BoonevillelabinJune 1985,

and by

the following February he

was

research leader atthelab.

"The

job has

some

parallelstoworking a ranch,"hesaid."

The

things

you do

in research areconsiderablydifferent;

you

havedifferent goals

and

objectives, col- lectinginformationandgettingitoutto farmers.

"Butif

you

haveanimals, justlike

on

a ranch,you're

on

callseven daysaweek, 24 hoursa day.Ifthere'sice

on

the

ponds

or tanks

where

thecattle

go

todrink,

you chop

it.I

know what

the stationlookslike

on

Saturdaysand Sundays,at

two

inthe morning.I've seena

few

sunrisesandalot ofsunsets here."

Hiring poses unusual problemsatasta- tionliketheBoonevillelab.

"We

needspecialskillshere,"

Brown

said."Ifyou're

on

the

ground

tagginga calf

and someone

^'s

on

ahorse keepingthe

mama away and

shesetspastthem, they havetostopher witha rope.

You know how

harditistofindpeople

who

canride

and

rope?

But

fortunately,

we

find

them

—

ortheyfind us."

A

keyquality,

Brown

says,is

empathy

forthe animals:

"You

haveto find a cer- tain attitude inyour employees.

They

have to have aself-imposed

commitment

to taking careofanimals.

"Peopleoftenmistakenly

assume

that taking careof animalsisunskilled labor.

What

they don't

know

isthat

by

thetime

most

peoplenoticea healthproblem,it's

no

longera

problem —

it'sadisaster.

A

good cowboy

noticesproblemsin cattle orsheep whilethey'restillsolvable."^•••

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Mrws ^{iiim ism}

bom Ford's 3/4-ton 4x4 pickup mm

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makes you get out to ^mmmi lock and ^unlock the front hubs.

BUMPER TO BUMPER

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The

HeartbeatofAmerica. ^^

UUOm ^{ISWIHHIHS TODAY'S TRUCK} IS CHtVttOUT

Courson's

job

on

the

team

istolasso the steer'slegs

once

his partner

has roped

its horns.

Hot with a Rope

It

takes speed, agility, concentration and years of practice to capture a national champion team

rOpmCJ ^Title. By Andrew

Markwart

Jerry

Wayne Courson

is

known as one

ofthetop heelers inFlorida.

He helped

set thestaterecordat 5.6

seconds.

16

It

was

alloverin10.8 seconds. Years ofdedication

and

thou- sandsof hours ofpractice

came down

tounder1 1explosive ticks

on

astopwatch.

That'sthetimeittookforJerry

Wayne

Courson, Live Oak, Florida

and

Justin

Morgan,

Tallahassee, Florida,tocapture a lively

young

steerandthe1989

High

School

Rodeo

Association

Team Roping Championship

inPueblo, Colorado. Their time

was

fast

enough

tobeat thesecond-place

team by

a slim three- tenthsofasecond.

The team

alsoholdsthe Floridastaterecordin

team

ropingat5.6 seconds.

Team

roping^isatimed rodeo event

where

a steerisreleased fromachute

and

ispursued

by two

ropers

on

horseback.

The

first

team member,

orheader,ropesthesteer'shornsand second

team member,

orheeler,ropesthesteer' sbacklegs.

When

the

two team members

arefacingeachotherwith

no

slackin theirropes,an officialraisesa flagandthestopwatchstops ticking.

Like

most

rodeoevents,

team

roping

emerged from

skills

needed on

cattleranches.

Cowboys would

oftenneedtocapture

and

branda large

number

ofcattleina short

amount

oftime,

and

the

team

ropingapproach

was

the

most

efficient

way

tohandlethe job.

Winning

thenationalchampionship

was

especiallysweetfor Courson,19,

and Morgan,

17, sinceit

was

onlythesecond time in

40

years that a Florida

team

had capturedthe title.

A

^year

before,

Courson and

anotherpartner

had

finished thirdatthe nationalfinals.

Courson

saysthatsincerodeois

more

of anindividual sport FFA

New

Horizons

than apopular

team

sport,suchas foot- ball,participants can't expectas

much

recognition.Despite winninga national championship,

and

appearing

on ESPN

andother televisionshows, he received lessattentioninhis

community

forbeing a national

champion

thanthe Live

Oak

football

team who won

thestatechampi- onshipthe

same

year.

The

term

"team

roping" can be mis- leadingbecausethe sport requiressucha highlevelofindividualtalent

and

dedica- tion.

And

since

team members

are often distanced

by

location

and

age,itis not

uncommon

tohavea

new

partnerevery year,

which

isthecase with Courson.

The Suwannee FFA

Chapter

member

has earnedthe reputationinFlorida as

one

ofthebest heelersinthestate.(Courson jokesthat

"Ray

Charles canhead.")This reputationhas

begun

to

work

against

him

becausethere are

few

otherropingteams

who

will

compete

against

him

atprivate rodeos, called"jackpots" because he usu- ally walks

away

withthe prize

money.

"Anywhere

thereis

money,

they won'tlet

me

rope," he claims. His stockpile of prize-winningbuckles, saddles

and

other awards bear testimonytohisskill.

Courson

says hisnextlogical

move

is tojoin the Professional

Rodeo Cowboy

It

was all over in 10.8

seconds. Years of dedication and thou- sands of hours of prac-

tice came down to

under

¹7

explosive ticks on a stopwatch.

Association, but that is an expensive venture,

one

that he will haveto save

money from

hisjobata local

plumbing company

toachieve.

Courson

says thatrodeoisan expen- sive sportbecause ofthehighentry fees andthatitisimportantto

know when

to

draw

theline."If

you

win,

you

can

go

again

tomorrow

night.It'sa

gamble and you

havetouse

common

sense,"head- vises."Right

now,

Itrytokeepitinthe perspectiveofbeingahobby. "In 1989,

no

one

was

betteratJerry

Wayne

Courson's

hobby. ^•••

August-September,1990

AMERICAN MADE BOOTS SINCE 1879

One

of Trista

Ward's main

responsibilities

on

herfamily's

guest ranch

iscaringforthehorses.

"lOPPy ^Trails Even MilN Vanim has visited this

By

MelissaA.Thurston

FFA member's guest ranch.

The

^latehumorist Will Rogers

was

assharp witharopeas he

was

with histongue. Another

Oklahoman,

Trista

Ward,

hasa

few

ropetricksof her

own.

The

1990 National

FFA Outdoor

RecreationProfi- ciency

Award

winner'strickropingskillsaren'tfarbehind those ofthe

well-known

humorist. Infact,

Ward,

18,isverycloseto

Attentionto detailisimportantforthebusiness.

masteringthe

Texas

Skip

—

adifficultropetrickRogers

made

famous.

Ward's

trickropingis

more

thanahobby;italsoplayeda role inhelping herlassoboththe

Oklahoma

andthe nationaloutdoor recreationproficiencyawards.

Her

grandmother,

Norma

Shultz

Ward,

taughtherto trick rope

when was

ten.

By

thetime she

was

12she

was

trickroping

on

therodeocircuitwith herthreesisters

and

youngerbrother.

Her

father,

Tom Ward, worked many

years as arodeo

clown and

continuesto

clown

inhis

Model T Bucking

Fordatthenearby

Lazy E Arena

inGuthrie.

In1984,

Ward

andtherestofthefamilyquit therodeocircuit

—

butthey didn't lay

down

theirropes. Instead, thefamily startedahorse-drawn hayride business

on

theirguestranch.

The

"5

W's

Sunrise Guest

Ranch" was

somethingthather grand- mother,father

and

uncle

had wanted

to

do

for alongtime.

They

believedthehayrides

would

offer

good

familyentertainment.

The

^{hayridesinclude}hay

wagons

pulled

by

teams of Belgian horses;a

chuck wagon menu

ofthe customer'schoice; back- ground

music by The

Sons ofthe Pioneers,Ridersinthe

Sky and Gene

Autry;therodeo^trickropingact;and

sometimes

staged gunfights.

Guestsridethehay

wagons

past apond,

Longhorn

cattle

and

acemetery

on

the

way down

tothe

main campground where

thereisa

chuckwagon, bunkhouse and

naturally,outhouses.

18 FFA

New

Horizons

Ward

saidittakesalotofhard

work

tokeepthebusiness running smoothly.

She

saidthey arealways

mending

fenceor checkingcattle.

The many

tasksinvolved withoperating theguest ranchare divided

up among

thefamily.

Ward, who

gotherfirstsaddle

when

she

was

seven,isresponsible for caring for

and

harness- ing the horses.

She

alsohelps

cook

the food, lead nature hikes andtrailrides

and

performsinthetrickropingact.

Ward

also

works

atthe

Lazy E Arena

duringspecialevents

and

ropesfairlyfrequentlyattheNational

Cowboy

Hallof

Fame

in

Oklahoma

City.

She

saidsinceGuthrie

was Oklahoma's

firststate capital,the guestranch

draws many

tourists.

The

businessisalsolistedwith the

Chamber

of

Commerce and

the

Oklahoma Tourism

and RecreationDepartment.

Peoplethatvisittheguestranchare as diverse as the entertain-

ment

foundthere.

Groups

have ranged

from

birthday partiesto church groupsto visitors

from

Japan,

Germany and

theSoviet Union,

and

eventherock groupMilli Vanilli,

who

arrivedatthe ranchinawhitestretch limousine.

"The

thingIlikebestabout

what we do

ismeetingallthe people

from

allover,"

Ward

said.

"The

responses

we

get

from

peoplearealwayspositive.

They

thinkit'sgreattoseeafamily

working

together the

way we

do.It'sreallyunique."

"I

want

thebusinesstogainthe distinctionofbeingthe place to

go

forwesternentertainment,"shesaid."Iwon't

do

anything that'snot agricultural.

Dad

alwayssays the three things

you

can count

on

fora

good

lifeare agriculture, religion

and

a bigfamily

and we've

gotallthree.That'stheonlylifeI'veever

known."

Thenational

Outdoor

Recreationproficiency

award

isspon- sored bythe

Yamaha

MotorCorporation.U.S.A.,asa special project oftheNationalFFAFoundation.

It

was

Trista

Ward's grandmother

thattaught her theartof trickroping.

e&wume

DEEI^KIN

Easy Comfort/

You'll

want

to

own

several

pair.

Ladies Deerskin styles are also

available.

© 1989

B.B.

Walker Company

•

Abilene Boot

^•

Asheboro,

N.C.

What's New ⁱⁿ

Wall's

new Navajo

jackets,the

Navajo Canyon and Navajo Rodeo, combine

the best of western

and

Indian styling.

Both add

colorful knit

Navajo

trim tolong wearing 100 percent cottoncanvas.

Chocolateisthe newestcolor

from

Abilene

Boot Company's

Italian

Shrunken

Shoulder Series. Thisallleather bootissupple

and

comfortable, witha luxu- rioushighglossfinish.

Natural comfortis

enhanced by

acushion insole. Sizes are7-13 (D)

and

8-13(EE).

Othercolors availablein Italian

Shrunken

Shoulderare:

Cream,

Aztec, Cognac, Black

and

Medium

Grey.

Thisyear,Justinbringsbackthe dramatic black-and-whitehair-on-calf westernbootforboth

men

and

women. The men's

boot hasa13-inch black suedetop,narrow roundtoe,

and

longbase

cowboy

heel.

The women's

boot hasa 12-inchblack

suedetop

and

acushionedinsole.

The

toeisnarrowround

and

the heelislongbaseriding.

The ROPER

Apparel Collection offers aSport Roper, black

and

khaki borderstripe.Itfeatures traditionalwesternstyling withinsetpockets

and

matchingflaps.

The 883 "Roper

Welling- ton"

by Lucchese Boot

Co.

features a traditional square, pulled

back

toe style

and

avail- ableinblackcherry,brown, blackor tan goat;lizard;

and

smooth

andfull-quillostrich.

You

willfindembroidery

on

bothsidesof these

men's

long sleeved fancy western^shirts

from

Ely

& ^Walker

^Co.

^Most

^ofthese styles arealso availablein ladies.

20 FFA

New

Horizons

Western ^Style

At

left,this

men's Golden West

100 percentcotton Ikat

madras

stripe shirtisavailableinaqua, grey

and

violet.

The

ladiesPanhandle Slim1

00

percentcottonsouthwestprintstripe shirtwith overlayfrontyokesisavailableinred/yellow,peach/

tan

and

gray/beige.

Thisarrow design 100 percentacrylicjacquard knitsweaterfor ladies

by Kenny Rogers

captures themystical

romance

of theSouthwest withthe comfort of westernstyl- ing.

The

arrowpatternis knitted

on

the front

and

back.

The

25-inch,v-

necked

pull-overisavail- ableinladies'sizes S,

M,

L,

and XL.

From

theLarry

Mahan

StrawCollec- tion,theSpindletop featuresa feather veneerleather band.

The

hand-

woven

Imperial Shantung "~"""

"

isavailable

from

the

Milano Hat

Co.,Garland, Texas.

Wrangler

introduces the first

Relaxed

Fit

Cowboy Cut

five- pocket jeanfor

West

ern

women.

Itfea- turesa front pleat

and

loosenedseat

and

thigh.

By

stone-washinga

new heavy-

weightCrystal fabric, the jeans have an exceptionally

comfortable

feel

and

the mercerizedcotton gives

them

asalt

and

pepperlook.

It

Inspired

from

the authentic 1800's westernstyling,

Roper

Apparel

from Karman

creates the Rustic

Roper

Shirt.

The

striped,100 percentcotton pull- overshirtisavailable insizesS,

M,

L,and

XL.

August-September,1990

Kreg Coggins

built nearly

two dozen birdhouses as

part ofhis wildlife pro- ject.

Below,

Coggins dug three ponds and stocked them

with fish.

A walk through Kreg Coggins' backyard

is

proof that wildlife

management

is

partly...

For the Birds

By Gary Bye

Sit

ⁱⁿ

Kreg Coggins

yard

and you

begintoappreciate theimpact of hisefforts. Blackcap chickadees, goldfinches, red

wing

blackbirds

and mountain

bluebirds vie fora

meal

at thebirdfeeder.

They

aresoon joined

by

treeswallows,evening grosbeaks,house finches,sparrowsand wrens.

Coggins,the 1989 winner ofthe

FFA Western Region

Proficiency

Award

in

Wildlife

Management,

lives

on

the out- skirtsofEnterprise,Oregon. Kreg'sef- forts inwildlife

management began

right at

home and grew

inan ever widening sphere of

knowledge and

participation.

The

incredible arrayofbirds visiting his yard onlyhintsathis effortstoimprove hissurroundings

and

hisworld.

"I really

began working

with wild animalsasearly asIcan

remember," Kreg

admits.

"My

father

works

withtheOre-

gon Department

of Fish

and

Wildlife.

He began

taking

me on

elk

and

deercensus

when

I

was

aboutsixyears old."

Thatearly interestdovetailednaturally into active participationin

FFA.

Kreg's agriculture instructor,RichardBoucher, encouraged

him

to build

on

his early experiences

and

developa solid projectin wildlife

management.

Since the

Coggins home was

sur- rounded

by some

natural springs,

Kreg

began

there.

With

a tractor

and

a blade, three different

ponds were

dug.

A

variety of evergreen

and

deciduoustrees

were

(ContinuedonPage26)

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This Ladd Can § ^{/ ft} Q

As

a state

FFA

officer,

Norman Ladd would

often

speak and

entertain at chapterbanquets.

By

MelissaA.Thurston

The ^FFA

has long heldthe tradition ofequipping

members

withlast- ingskills.

Norman Ladd

isliving proofthatthoseskillsprovide a

sound

foundationforalmost anything

—

evena careerincountry music.

Ladd, anagricultural

economics major

at

Oklahoma

State University, released hisdebut

album "Norman Ladd and The

Cactus

Canyon Band"

inMarch.

The

former Cushing,

Oklahoma, FFA member and

formerstate

FFA

reporter

became

interestedinsinging foranaudi- enceafterhe

was

chosenforthelead part inthemusical

"Oklahoma"

in hissopho-

more

yearof highschool.

He

saidhetried outforthe part

"on

a

whim" and

soonafter

was

encouraged

by

his

FFA

advisor,Clay

Young,

to performat the

FFA

chapter banquet.

24

A former state officer is launching a singing career while still in college.

Ladd

agreed

and made

hisfirstsolo stageperformance duringthe1986

Cush-

ing

FFA

chapterbanquet.Sincethat first performance,the21-year-oldhas

had

alot of timetoconsiderhis styleof music.

"For a long time I thought I liked

George

Strait's style of music.

Then

I

decidedtoget

more

ofastyleof

my own,"

Ladd

^said.

"A

^lotof performersare

good

with

one

typeof music,eitherhardorsoft.

Iliketobediverse,butballads are

what

I

reallylike."

Inaddition to thesupporthe received

from

his

FFA

advisor,

Ladd

saidhe

owes

alotofcredit to hismother.

"My mom

alwayssaid

you

oughttobe singing.Iguess she

was

right,"hesaid.

"She

has

backed me from

the very begin- ning."

While

in the

FFA, Ladd

exhibited live- stockandparticipated inpublicspeaking con- tests

and

livestock judging.

"Ihavetogivethe

FFA

alotofcreditfor

where

I

am

today,"he said.

"The FFA

activi- tiesthatput

me

before peoplehave helpedtre-

mendously

with

my

stage presence.

The way you handle an

audience

when

you're speakingisverysimi- larto

how you

handle

an audience when

you'resinging."

The FFA

notonlytaught

Ladd

useful careerskills,italsoprovideda bigmusical opportunityfor

him

in the

summer

of 1987.Stan

Kingma,

directorofthe

Na-

tional

FFA

Chorus,selected

Ladd

to travel withtheNational

Band

and

Chorus

U.S.A.

and

performinAustralia

and New

Zeal- and.

"Iprobably

wouldn

'thavegotten asfar with

my music

withoutthe

FFA,"

hesaid.

"Ibased

my

careerthroughthe

FFA and

at

Ladd

listens to his

music

being fine-tuned in the

recording

studio.

firstthatis

where

Igotallof

my

opportu- nities toperform.

When

I

was

a state officer, alotof times^I

would

be boththe speaker

and

theentertainmentforchapter banquets."

Inaddition to the

FFA

tour,

Ladd

has

made

regularappearances attheOkla-

homa Opry

in

Oklahoma

Cityfornearly fiveyears

and

heldhis

own

concertatthe

Payne County

FairinStillwater.

"I'mfacing

many

opportunities thatI

never thoughtI

would

be facing," said Ladd.

"My

musicalabilitiesarea

God-

giventalentthat

I'm

goingto use.I

am

the

most

comfortable

and

have

more

self- confidence

when I'm

standing

on

stage performing thanI

do

anyother time."

Earlierthisyear,

Ladd

servedasthe talent di- rector

and

assistantcho- rus director for the1990

Oklahoma

State

FFA

Convention.

He

saidhe feelshisperformancesat the state convention as an

FFA member

helped toinfluence othersto try outforconventiontalent

which

lead

up

tothefor- mation ofthestatecho- rus.

Ladd

hasfoundthat

no

matter

where you

performor

how

often,it takesalotofhard

work

to

make

a careeroutof country music.

"Ihave

no

freetime

and I'm

usually tired,"

hesaid.

"The

longhours cangetdisappointing

and

keepinga

band

togetheris almost impossible.

When

I

perform though,it

makes

^itallworthwhile.

To go

out

on

stage

and

perform

and know

theaudience

had

a

good

timeis

what

it's allabout."

What Ladd

islookingfor

most now

is amajor recordingcontract. "For

me

to

make

itincountry musicit'sgoingtotake getting

my

musicinthe righthands ofthe rightpeopleinthe right places," saidLadd.

FFA

New

Horizons

Former FFA Member Wins

Pulitzer Prize

Former ^{Oregon FFA}

^{reporterNicho-}

las Kristof has

won

the interna- tional Pulitzer Prize for his report- ingcoverage ofthepoliticalturmoil in

China

lastyear.

He

isthebureauchief for

The New

York

Times

atthe

newspa-

per's officeinBeijing.Kristof shares the prestigiousjournalismprizewithhis wife, Sheryl

WuDunn.

He

joinedthe

Times

in1

984

asa finan- cial reporter-trainee

and became

a re- porterinApril 1985. InOctober 1986 he

became

a foreigncorrespondentin

Hong Kong.

Beforejoining theTimes,Kristof spent

two summers

asaninternfor

The Washington

Post.

Kristof

was

the1977-78

Oregon FFA

Reporter

and

alsoservedas theYamhill- Carlton,

Oregon

chapterreporterin1974- 75.Followinghisyearas astate officer, he

worked

for several

Oregon newspa-

pers

and

alsospenta

summer

inFrance

on FFA's Work

Experience

Abroad

program.

NicholasKristof

He

studiedpoliticalscienceatHarvard

and

attended

Oxford

Universityin

Eng-

landasa

Rhodes

Scholar lawstudentin 1981-82.

Kristofis featured in the

new FFA

Reporters

Handbook. The handbook

^is

aimed

at helping chapterreporters be-

come more

effectivecommunicators.

In theReporter's

Handbook,

Kristof saysthathisexperienceasan

FFA

chapter

reporterhelps

him now

ashewrites for

The New

York Times.

"On

a different scale, it's the

same

^{challenge I faced} writingaboutthe successesof

my FFA

chapter"hesays, "If

one

can

make

acreed speakingcontest interestingtothe general public, it's

no problem

to

make

a

war

interesting."

The

Pulitzerwinner goes

on

tosayin the

handbook

that

FFA members who may

beinterestedinajournalismcareer shouldget plentyofexperience.

"Work

foryour school paper

and

offer to write foryour town'spaper,about anythingat all.

Go

to college

and

write fora college paper. 'Write, write,write,'hesays,

and

while you'reatit'read,read, read.' Read- ingnewspapers, he says, willhelp

you

learn to write fluently.

Take

advantage of your agriculturalknowledge.

Most

re- portershave urban backgrounds,sostress yourabilityto writeaboutthemysterious world of

wheat and

chickens

and

cattle."

American Quarter Horse

Association Celebrates 50 ^Years

It

was

a halfcentury

ago

thatahandful of

horsemen met

inFortWorth,

Texas and

organizedthe

American

Quarter

Horse

Association

(AQHA).

From

its

modest

beginning in 1940,

AQHA

^has

grown

toan international or- ganization over250,000

members

with an equineregistryapproachingthree mil- lionhorses.

A number

ofspecialeventsaretaking placethroughouttheyearto

mark

the50th anniversary.

At

the organization's national convention,held

March

^1-7,countryen- tertainer Michael Martin

Murphey

de- buted"America's Horse,"asong he wrote specificallyfor

AQHA's

anniversary.

To

heighten publicawareness about theanniversary, special

AQHA Golden Year

Parade Units have appearedinsev- eralnational

and

regionalparades, includ- ing the

Tournament

ofRosesParade, Fiesta

Bowl

ParadeandthePegasus Parade held inconjunctionwiththe

Kentucky Derby

August-September,1990

FestivalinLouisville,Kentucky.

Coming up November

7-17 willbethe 1990

American

QuarterHorse Asso- ciation

World Championship Show

heldin

Oklahoma

City,

Oklahoma. Cham

pionship titles in

82

classes

and more

than

$500,000

in prize

money

willbe

on

the line.

One major

project will

be completed

next spring

when AQHA

will

open

the doors toa

new American

Quarter

Horse

Heritage Center

& Museum, which

isbeing constructed nexttothe

AQHA

headquarters ⁱⁿ Amarillo, Texas.

The

facilitywillfeaturea

mix

ofhistorical

and

contemporaryexhibits that willillustrate the breed's role throughout

American

history.

The

foundation ofthe

American

Quar-

ter

Horse

canbetracedbackto theponies brought to

America by

the Spaniards.

Many

of those horsesreturned to the wild

and

later were cap- tured

by

colonists

who domesticated

the animals and

began

to breed

them

to their

own

stock

from

Europe.

Over

the years, thebreed

developed

a consis- tency, characterized

by

its racingspeed overa quarter-mile distance

from which

the

name

Quarter Horse

was

derived.

As

partofthe organization's involve-

ment

with

FFA, The American

Quarter

Horse

Association has sponsored the National

FFA

Horse Proficiency

award

as a special project ofthe National

FFA

Foundationfor12years. •••

25