Written by: Annabelle Betcher

Ag Club: What’s happening on Fridays in GMS room 8?

The members of our Middle School Ag Club led by Kolby Causemaker and Jacey Gehl held their usual monthly meeting at the high school. Middle School Ag Advisor, DeeAnn Kuster, also attends and organizes these meetings where the committee plans activities to host with our middle schoolers. MS Ag Club saw a huge rise in attendance to a total of 45 members at their butter-making meeting, where they learned about dairy farming and food production. This month students learned about flower parts to help them explore more parts of ag and prepare for high school ag classes, criteria for judging livestock to help prepare for high school competition opportunities, and discovered more about the portion of agriculture encompassing global trade by putting their own ag knowledge into perspective as they participated in an interactive trading simulation.

Plot Presentation: Planting the Plans for FFA Plots.

On January 8th, co-chairs of the plot committee Jackson Frank, Peyton Kies, and member Aidan Daly delivered a presentation about the FFA plot to the city council at City Hall. They acknowledged all those who made the 2025 harvest possible, as well as described the yields and resources that go into running the plots. The overall goal of this presentation was not only to inform the city council of the progress of the plots, but also to renew the lease to the plot near the cemetery to continue its tillage in the upcoming season. The city counsel approved the lease, which means our chapter can look forward to another year of developing agricultural skills! Senior Peyton Kies reflects,

“Participating on the plot committee has given me so much over the past couple years. From meeting industry professionals to hands-on field work, I can say that I am very glad I took the opportunity to be a co-chair. I have learned what all goes into crop insurance, storing and selling grain,, planting, and harvesting. Without the alumni and professionals that are willing to help us, we would not be able to learn or succeed as we have. I can’t wait to see what all comes of the future years of our two plots!”

Quad City Farm Show

On January 19th, our members attended the Quad City Farm Show to sell Illinois FFA Alumni gator raffle tickets. The proceeds from these tickets benefit the Illinois FFA Alumni to help support student leadership conference scholarships and one lucky winner will go home with a gator! Students remarked on how many interesting conversations they were able to have by going out of their way to talk to all generations of farmers there. The day was filled with selling many tickets, building connections with new people, and gaining sales skills! Members who attended include Kali Herberg, Kaylin Heller, Jillian McMahill, Hannah Wildemuth, Emilie Decastecker, Annabelle Betcher, Jackson Frank, Emerson Swan, Jacey Gehl, Maycie Sims, Faith Kuster, Dawsyn McDonald, and Molly Wannemacher.

AITC Facilitation Meeting 1/21 and 1/27

Students involved in the Ag In The Classroom Committee gathered on January 21st to decide what books they were going to read to the first grade classrooms they were signed up for around the district. The books are provided to us from a grant through the Illinois Ag in the Classroom teacher book grant - open to any and all teachers!! Those who have gone on visits to classrooms exclaim about how enjoyable it is to teach the young minds about agriculture. They’ve noticed that with Geneseo having many ties and roots in ag the kids light up being able to talk about the different connections they have to ag and farmers. Whiteside county AITC facilitator Diane Baker volunteered her time on January 27th to teach our members about very hands-on activities to take to 5th grade classrooms in February. One lesson condenses the ways in which the Super Bowl relies on agriculture to exist into an escape-lock-box activity, while another surrounds the concept of ag-tech. The first visits to students are down and members are thrilled to bring these to more classes!

Section 3 Meats CDE: Peoria, Its Gots The Meats

We had 7 members attend the Meat Evaluation CDE at Raber Packing Plant. In preparation for the contest most of them learned about Meat Evaluation in their Animal Science class. They had to know how to judge the quality and yield grading, as well as identify the cuts of meat they were observing. The team was 3rd in our section, and we’re proud of the members for trying a new CDE for Geneseo! Team member Jackson Frank enjoyed his experience as a meat evaluator so much that he remarked,

“I brought home 6 different types of sausage for his family, and it tasted so good it received an A+ in flavor science”.

You heard it here, our members really enjoyed this opportunity! Members on the team include Hannah Wildemuth, Jacey Gehl, Kaylin Heller, Jillian McMahill, Ben Ott, Jackson Frank and Henry Dwyer.

Ground Zero Conference 1/28-1/29: Ground Breaking News

Geneseo FFA sent 10 members to the 2026 Ground Zero Conference in Springfield, Illinois. These freshmen and sophomores enjoyed the ability to build connections with fellow FFA members from around the state, while also being provided with insight into leadership, teamwork, and the many opportunities available to them through their involvement in FFA. Each session had a “mission” to help them identify their strengths and weaknesses that they can bring back to our community and FFA chapter. As the conference wrapped up, students created SMART - specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely - goals, and wrote mottos on cards to keep in their jackets. During the conference, members also took part in a meaningful community service project that highlighted the importance of expressing gratitude to our deployed service members. Freshman member who attended the conference, Faith Kuster, shared her motto,

“You don’t have to be the best to care the most.”

Participating members include Molly Wannemacher, Jacey Gehl, Ashlynn Chamberlain, Hannah Wildemuth, Camryn Ebert, Faith Kuster, Lili Marshall, Lydia Carton, Ella Schaaf, and Henry Dwyer