West Holmes FFA digs into soil science, safety and community education

On Sept. 12 the West Holmes FFA Chapter sent 19 members to county soils at Gingerich Farm near Mt. Hope.

During the competition members examined soil slope, texture, depth and drainage, as well as the potential farming or building uses for the specified areas. They were tested on their knowledge of how to read a soil survey book and their general knowledge of soil and its characteristics.

The chapter had two teams competing in the contest. Team Urban included Electra Beachy, Courtney Crider, Dean Hodson, Chloe Kaser, Rayne Larimore, Natty Lint, Cadence Martie, Madison Mittman and Mia Spencer.

They evaluated land for building and development purposes.

Team Rural included Reece Anderson, Ellie Babbit, Gabby Fowler, Kendra Hall, Cameron Hinton, Natalie Lauriha, Reagan Mackey, Ali Mash, Emma McDonnell and Andrew Weaver.

They evaluate the land for agricultural purposes.

Members were able to learn a lot about soil that they can use in the future, thanks to the assistance of the Holmes SWCD and Gingerich Farm for hosting the event.

On Sept. 3 the West Holmes FFA officer team went around to Rush Run, Harvest Ridge and Airport Ridge Sporting Clays, assisting the Holmes County Soil and Water Conservation District with its MWCD Showcase Tour.

The members helped park cars, direct people and welcome them as they entered the event. It was a great opportunity for the team to network and learn as they mingled with members of agriculture from across Ohio.

Members of the officer team include President Madison Ringwalt, Vice President Emma Eberhard, secretary Mia Spencer, reporter Courtney Crider, Treasurer Shane Lorentz, Sentinel Makenzie Mast, student adviser Natty Lint and historian Wyatt Troyer.

On Sept. 24, thirty-one members of the West Holmes FFA helped present the annual Tom Graham 5th Grade Farm Tour in conjunction with the Holmes Soil and Water Conservation District. The members who attended were from the officer team: Madison Ringwalt, Emma Eberhard, Mia Spencer, Courtney Crider, Shane Lorentz, Makenzie Mast, Natty Lint and Wyatt Troyer.

The juniors and seniors who assisted were Logan Van Dalen, Jenna Zimmerly, Sophia Stitzlein, Bri Poventud, Grady Hawkins, Rowan Holasek, Dylan Sours, Cassidy Holasek, Claire Drzazga, Jarrett Schafer, Mason Miller, Blake Patterson, Emmy Miller, Cara McMillen, Landrie Croskey, Ben Forrer, Logan Horn, Billy Patten, Keston McKinney, Jordan Long, Easton Uhl and Emily Manges.

This year the Croskey family hosted the tour. The FFA helped set up and run the event. The schools in attendance were Killbuck, Lakeville and Millersburg.

Members Emma Eberhard, Logan Horn, Claire Drzazga, Mason Miller, Rowan Holasek, Blake Patterson, Billy Patten, Keston McKinney, Jordan Long and Cassidy Holasek served as group leaders for the fifth-graders. Members Courtney Crider and Jenna Zimmerly took pictures for the event.

The group leaders led them to stations such as composting, farm equipment safety, animal and ATV safety, forestry, and wildlife. In composting, SWCD discussed how important soil is to agriculture and why you don’t want to waste it, with the help of FFA members Natty Lint, Emily Manges and Cara McMillen.

At farm equipment safety, FFA members Ben Forrer and Easton Uhl showed them how to be safe around farm equipment and different crops that could be grown. At animal safety FFA members Madison Ringwalt, Shane Lorentz, Sophia Stitzlein and Landrie Croskey talked about safety around animals, and members Mia Spencer, Makenzie Mast, Jarrett Schafer, Bri Poventud and Logan Van Dalen talked about the safety of ATVs, four wheelers and Razors and the importance of using proper hand signals when driving.

In forestry FFA members Grady Hawkins and Dylan Sours helped Dave Woodring show kids how to look for certain aspects of trees to identify them and how to calculate a tree’s age. Members Emmy Miller and Wyatt Troyer helped with the wildlife station.

After everyone went through all the stations, they were fed a lunch of hot dogs, chips, fruit, milk, yogurt and ice cream provided by the Twisted Cow Creamery. We would like to thank everyone who was involved in putting this event on.

The chapter hosted a poster contest after the farm tour for the fifth-graders to demonstrate their new knowledge of agriculture through an illustration. The winners were Alex Oswald, first place; Hadley Morris, second place; and Cameron Carver, third place.