State Convention

 Here is the state convention crew from SBA this year-they were a great bunch and we are proud to have each one represent our chapter!

 Andrew Hoffman placed 2nd individually in the Ag Mechanics CDE.  He has worked hard all year and his efforts paid off at state!

 Our Safety Quiz Bowl team placed 3rd out of 16 teams and will be competing at the State Fair this coming fall on Saturday, September 5.

Our Ag Mechanics team did well and finished 9th out of over 50 teams.  They were impressed by the Precision Ag equipment that SDSU was showcasing and so we got a picture by one of their new Kubota units.

 Our young horse judging team was made up of a brother/sister/cousin combination.  They learned a lot and hopefully will continue to build on their progress next year.

 Our livestock judging team has been very competitive all year long.  We didn't do as well at state as we would have liked, however, we have beaten the top 2 teams at state in district competitions this year.  Next year!

 The first session is always the best time to get photos with fresh, smiling faces.

 We try and make a couple trips to the dairy bar while at SDSU to test the quality control of their ice cream.

 Representing SBA!

 Enjoying ice cream!

 While at convention, we had the opportunity to serve with Soles for Hope and make shoes that will be sent to children in Africa.

Fire Pit Project

 Our fire-pit project is moving along and the students have been working hard on the design and excavating of the project.

 We chose an octagonal shape for our fire-pit area and that was quite a geometrical challenge to layout.  With the help of our talented maintenance staff we got it done.

 The students did a lot of hand digging, however, we did use the skid steer to help in the excavating process.

 We painted our lines out before we started digging to give us direction.

Picture Update

 We have been competing in 4 different Career Development Events and our livestock judging team placed 2nd out of 16 teams at Miller on March 22nd.  We also had a Horse Judging team, Ag Mechanics team and one student doing Vet Science.

 After the CDE in Miller, we did a yard project in town.  The students work well together and make working fun!

Plant Project

Here are the links and the vocabulary terms for Thursday, April 14th.  Remember, you need to choose 4 ornamental plants and 2 outside flowers to research and create a presentation on.  We will narrow that down to 2 ornamentals and 1 flower for your project.
https://hort.purdue.edu/ext/senior/
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/mg/Gardennotes/121.html
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plantfinder/plantfindersearch.aspx

Definitions:
Horticulture
Ornamental Plants
Tree
Shrub
Herbaceous Plants

Hands-On STEM Video

The following is a well-done documentary of how practical and hands-on STEM learning can be for those in agricultural settings.  This family is friends with staff members here at SBA.
http://www.edutopia.org/video/learning-stem-through-agriculture-nebraska-farm

Agribusiness-Grain Bridge Project

Our Agribusiness class is going to be working on a project simulation through Grain Bridge where they will assume the position of producers.  The students are given 1280 acres to create a diversified operation of crops and livestock.  They will estimate input costs, expenses and projected yields and then keep track of their investments over the course of the semester and hopefully beyond!

Here is a link to the website: https://grainbridge.com/FFA/SD

Below are a couple of useful resources when looking at average crop yield numbers and livestock carrying capacity formulas:

https://www.mitchelltech.edu/media/files/Programs%20Offered/Agriculture%20&%20Transportation%20Technologies/SDCFRM/SDCFRM_2014_Annual_Report_Linked.pdf

http://globalrangelands.org/inventorymonitoring/carryingcapacity

Horse and Livestock Judging Resources

Here are some good on-line resources for horse judging:
http://www.cowgirldiary.com/archives/1169

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/anatomy/quartertypeconf_030107

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/anatomy/geldingconformation_051906/

http://www.equisearch.com/horses_care/health/anatomy/mareconformation_061506/

**Horse and Rider Magazine has a great conformation clinic in each one of their issues!

Here are some good on-line resources for livestock judging:
http://www.judging101.com/


http://www.livestockjudging.com/free_livestock_judging_practice_classes.aspx