OFI 1854: Practical Research And Becoming An American Star Finalist | FFA SAE Edition | Hadley Stiefvater | McCook Central High School FFA

Hadley Steifvater is an American Star Finalist in the category of Agriscience Research.  She has grow up around her father's veterinary practice, raising livestock of her own and also helping to solve problems in the production agriculture world in her region of South Dakota.

Hadley was homeschooled for the entirety of her primary school career, and her pathway into the FFA and agriscience research are a bit different than normal.  Hadley was actually recruited by the FFA Advisor for McCook Central High School, Terry Reickman, as her father had been the FFA and Terry had been his advisor too.  This recruitment took place her 7th Grade year, but it was not until 8th Grade that her parents allowed it.

In the first year, another of Hadley's FFA Advisors, Tracy Chase, encouraged her to do an agriscience research project.  Hadley went on to win both state and national awards with that project in just the 8th Grade!  This set her on a course of seeking research projects, and soon she was researching the best methods of farrowing pigs and caring for newly born pigs on behalf of her father and for one of his customers.

This led to Hadley researching block chains in the beef industry and assessing whether or not the origins of a steak could be traced back to the farm the calf was born on - a topic of particular interest to me.

Hadley is now at South Dakota State University, majoring in Animal Science, and she is looking at a future career in the veterinary field as either a veterinary nurse or veterinarian.