Milford FFA brings home awards from Delaware State Fair

Each summer, Milford FFA takes a team of students to the Delaware State Fair to compete in various contests. These competitions range from Agronomy to Forestry to Livestock Judging to Tractor Driving. Throughout the years, the FFA advisors have prepared championship-caliber students and teams; 2015 was no exception.

Led by FFA advisors Judith Bruns, Chris Stahl, Scott Haldeman and Jack Newark, this year’s students brought home several top performances including a first-place Agronomy Team that will now compete in the National FFA Convention in October. Bryce Warren led the group with a first-place finish overall in the category.

Milford’s Forestry Team took home second-place honors and will compete in the FFA Regional competition (referred to as Big E) in September. This team was led by Jared Maule’s third-place performance. Finally, Poultry Judging brought home a third-place finish, also qualifying the team for September’s Big E competition.

Other notable performances this year were Chris Fox’s second-place performance in Tractor Driving as well as strong showings from the Livestock Judging, Ag Mechanics and Veterinary Science teams. These performances represented hundreds of hours of work and preparation for both students and their advisors. Because of these efforts, Milford’s FFA teams were very successful this year. However, the team competitions weren’t the only FFA successes this summer at the Delaware State Fair.

Many students had individual animal showings as well. Milford students showed both pigs and sheep this year, with freshman Kacie Casper’s pig taking third place in the Market Class.

Below is a full list of Milford FFA students who competed at the Delaware State Fair and their results.

The Agronomy team placed first in the state, and will compete at the National FFA Convention in October. Bryce Warren placed first individually. Summer Arthurs placed second individually. Megan Stevenson placed third individually. Josh Messick placed fourth  individually.

For Tractor Driving, Chris Fox won second place in the state.

The Forestry team won second place in the state and will compete at the regional level at The Big E in September. Jared Maule placed third individually. Caroline Russell placed fourth individually. Nina Ciccaglione placed fifth individually. Nickolas Wright placed seventh individually.

Poultry Judging Team placed third in the state and will compete at the regional level at The Big E in September. Patrick Donovan placed sixth individually. Will Kinsella placed eighth individually. Sage Culver placed ninth individually. Paige Lee placed 10th individually.

The Ag Mechanics Team placed third in the state. Team members are Cole Neibert, Courtney Betts, Dalton Messick and Nick Capece.

Livestock Judging placed fourth in the state. Alexis Doughty placed sixth individually. Alison Nordberg placed 10th individually. Maria Hernandez-Marin and Jaineil Johnson were on the team as well.

The Vet Science Team placed fifth in state. Team members included Robyn Beard, Ty Cartwright, Brielle Hermstedt and Alex Toledo.

Tractor Driving placed 10th in the state. Team members included Hunter Culver.