Off-Farm Income

All summer we have been profiling students transitioning from their 9th to their 10th grade years in the FFA.  These interviews are a lot of fun to do because if I can ask just the right question I can tap into area of expertise that are already developed in these young students.

Our guest today is Hayven Smethurst.  She has a lot of involvement in the FFA.  She joined because she thought it would help her to advocate for agriculture, and she took action.  She did this by recruiting her friends, who are not involved in agriculture, to join the FFA with her.  She believes through these efforts she can expose more people to agriculture and help to bring people into this industry to keep it going into the future.  So far she has successfully recruited three people to join her chapter who otherwise would not have done that!

In addition to her advocacy efforts Hayven loves animals and raises several different species at her home.  She also works with dairy cattle on her grandparents dairy, and she shows dairy cattle for a nearby dairy with registered Holsteins.  If fitting, training and showing 8 head of Holsteins in a summer were not enough, she also shows horses and keeps 8 of her own.

When I started asking Hayven about showing horses and being successful in the arena, her knowledge and expertise really started to shine.  She had a lot of great information for any future or current exhibitor who wants to show horses and has goals of improving their performance.  Hayven's passion for the equine shone through in the interview so strongly that I titled the episode "how to succeed showing horses"!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Equine & Dairy Production

HIGH SCHOOL: Seneca High School; Seneca, Wisconsin

MASCOT: Royals

FFA ADVISOR: Brigid Leofeoholz

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR HAYVEN SMETHURST:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Seneca High School website:

Hayven's FFA Advisor's Email Address: bloeffelholz@seneca.k12.wi.us

Seneca High School Telephone Number: 608-737-9177

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE's)

Support FFA 

Donate to FFA - One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start - pay it forward.

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

  • Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world.  FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
  • Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
  • Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue

More Places You Can Listen to Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald:

 

Direct download: Off_Farm_Income--Episode_1457_Hayven_Smethurst-COMM_9_39.mp3
Category:FFA -- posted at: 12:30am MDT