INDIANPOLIS, Ind. – The National FFA Organization announced the 2020 National FFA Agriscience Fair finalists earlier this month. The winners will be recognized during the 93rd National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.

The FFA Agriscience Fair is for middle and high school students and recognizes students who gain real-world, hands-on experiences in agricultural enterprises. The students use scientific principles and emerging technologies to solve complex problems related to agriculture, food and natural resources.

The students compete in one of six categories and in one of the six divisions within each category, competing individually or as a team.

The Farm World readership area was well represented in each of the six categories, which included Animal Systems, Environmental Services & Natural Resource Systems, Food Products & Processing Systems, Plant Systems, Power, Structural & Technical Systems and Social Science.

Lizzie Schafer, of the Taylorville FFA in Illinois, is looking to be a repeat Agriscience champion. She finished first last year and hopes to repeat with her embryo grades in the Animal Systems category.

“FFA has already opened many doors for me,” she said. “I’ve wanted to wear the FFA blue jacket since I was seven years old. I can assure you that FFA will help me accomplish all the goals I have in my life.”

Others in the region who finished in the top three in Animal Systems (all divisions) were: Adalyn Schoelerman (Spencer FFA, Iowa), Jasmyn Hoeger (Beckman Catholic FFA, Iowa), Mason Fry and Carter Hitz (Southeastern FFA, Illinois), John Buyrl (Woodbury FFA, Tennessee), Garren Hamby (Eagleville FFA, Tennessee), Taylor Meyer and Lillian Hughes (Covington-UVCC FFA, Ohio) and Shannon Rossman and Alice Hughes (Jonesville FFA, Michigan).

Joscelyn Layman, of the Millcreek-West Unity FFA in Ohio, was among the top students in the Plant Systems category. In her research, she was trying to find a more sustainable way of fertilizing corn.

“My overall goal with FFA is to have an overall impact on the agriculture industry,” Layman said. “I’m definitely sure that FFA will help open doors for me in the future.”

Other top finishers in the Plant Systems category include Summer Ramsey (Southeastern FFA, Illinois) and Cullen Covlin and Matthew Grab (Freeburg FFA, Illinois).

Alora Siegel, of the Millcreek-West Unity FFA in Ohio, was among the top finishers in the Power, Structural & Technical Systems category. Siegel compared welding processes to determine which one most accurately meets filler material specifications.

“In my project I compared tensile strengths of three different kinds of welding processes used in the agricultural arena,” she said. “When it comes to welding there’s many variables involved and the testing I did illustrated the most cost-effective solution for those in the ag industry.”

According to Siegel, FFA has opened her eyes to the world of agriculture and beyond. “Thanks to FFA, I’m already seeing new paths in my future that I never thought were possible,” she said.

Other top finishers in this category were Kaylee Jennings and Joanna Hamilton (Felicity-Franklin FFA, Ohio), Matthew Ruff and Joseph Elder (Westfall FFA, Ohio), Zoey Griswold and Kendra Lilly (Southeastern FFA, Illinois), Tessa Tauke (Litchfield FFA, Illinois), Elaan Bader, Tyler Salrin, Katherine Grebner and Lauren Goldsmith (Beckman Catholic FFA, Iowa).

Sterling Tomac and Luke Peters of the Chesaning FFA in Michigan performed their project under the Environmental Services & Natural Resource Systems category.

For their AgriScience project, Peters and Tomac performed a comparative study of the effect of biodegradable versus conventional hydraulic oil on rye grass. It was their parents who led them to this study as Peters’ father uses conventional hydraulic oil in his farm and construction projects while Tomac’s father uses biodegradable oil in his work.

“Though I have no idea of what I want to ultimately do in life, FFA has certainly opened some doors for me,” said Tomac, an eighth-grader. “FFA has given me lots of resources and shown me things I wouldn’t normally have done.”

Others in the top three of this category included Jarrett VanBeck, Owen Rigg, Cooper Lee and Eli Leasman (Southeastern FFA, Illinois), and Pauline Liu and Abigail Saks (Bergen County Academies FFA, Michigan).

Alexandria Whitman of the Green County FFA in Kentucky chose Food Products & Processing Systems as her concentration. In this category, Whitman performed tests in various raw chicken containers, analyzing each for residual bacterial growth once they had been sanitized.

“This is my third year in this program and thanks to FFA it has led me to a better appreciation of food science,” she said. “I’m quite intrigued about food science and I think FFA has led me to something I can work with the rest of my life.”

Others in the top three in the Food Products & Processing Systems category include Clark Spencer (Red Oak Middle FFA, Iowa), Faith Jennings and Ayla Rutherford (Felicity-Franklin FFA, Ohio) and Reagan Koester (North Posey FFA, Indiana).

Blaine Wagner of the North Decatur FFA in Indiana spends most of his weekends at agility competitions with his dog, Molly. When COVID-19 shut such competitions down in March, Wagner decided to research the effects of COVID-19 on the fitness of agility dogs and made it part of his Agriscience project in the Social Science category. In the end, this sophomore collected 940 surveys from four continents.

Others among the top three in Social Science were Madisen Jolliff (Ridgemont FFA, Ohio), and Emma Ahrendsen and Dalayna Brugman (Sioux Central FFA, Iowa).