OFI 1665: Farming & Raising What Nobody Else Wants | FFA SAE Edition | Aidan Yoho | Yates Center High School FFA

Aidan Yoho is the 2022 State Star Farmer of Kansas FFA and the State Secretary.  He will hold both of those titles until July of 2023.  But back in July of 2022, Aidan was simply an FFA Member from Yates Center, Kansas who was attending his state convention and who had thrown his hat in the ring in these two categories.  As it turned out, state star farmer and the state officer team were both announced during the same session of the state convention.  So, within 20 minutes of Aidan's life he went from not holding either of these titles to holding both!

So, where did this all start for him.  It started with a passion for farming that still exists on Aidan's land today, his great-grandfather.  Aidan's great-grandfather started farming with his brother on leased ground over 50 years ago.  Today, Aidan farms with his father and his great-grandfather, but unfortunately his grandfather passed away in 2021.  Being able to work with and learn from this great-grandfather has taught Aidan many valuable lessons about being successful in agriculture.

One of those lessons is that there is money to be made doing things that nobody else wants to do.  Aidan listened to this advice, and that is how he got his start.  Both in cattle and forage production, he applied the same philosophy.  Aidan started out purchasing dairy cross calves that needed to be dehorned because they were cheap and not many people wanted them.  He also identified problem areas on the farm that nobody wanted to mess with and started growing hay on them.

Today that has developed into an operation that allows Aidan to farm the more desirable hay ground and to purchase better cattle that end up making him more money in the long run.  He has his sights set on returning to the family farm and running it when the time is right, but for now he is giving his full focus to making a run at being the American Star Farmer in a couple of years!