(Deming) – The 2014 state-winning FFA Agronomy team from Deming competed earlier this month at the national contest in Louisville, Kentucky.
Deming FFA Advisor Larry Von Tress said the team finished the competition as a Silver Medal Team and reportedly placed higher than any agronomy team from New Mexico in recent memory.
Team members Graham Borden and Brannick Sweetser were Silver Medal individuals, and Tee Pickett and Stephanie Swope were Bronze Medal individuals.
Swope was selected for the team by Von Tress after Shelby Peterson, who was a member of the state-winning team, couldn’t make the trip to nationals.
Von Tress said the Deming team competed against 35 other teams from around the nation in Grain Grading, Plant and Seed Identification, Plant Diseases, Soil Monoliths, Farm Machinery and Equipment Identification, Insect Identification and a team event selecting varieties, crops, fertilizers, herbicides, etc., and then justifying their decisions for a three-year rotation along with presenting proposed financial records.
By the way, Sweetser and Borden were members of four state-winning teams that qualified for national competitions during their high school careers: Wildlife, Agricultural Mechanics, Farm Business Management and Agronomy.
Von Tress said it is rare for FFA members to qualify for one National Career Development Event – let alone four.
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