FFA students continue tradition in national competition
Over the past decade the Buffalo High School Future Farmers of America program has been one to watch in state and national competition.
Specifically, the program’s Marketing Plan teams have won state and advanced to nationals in six of the last seven years, in addition to successes in various other fields. At the 98th annual FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Oct. 29-Nov. 1, Buffalo’s most recent marketing team of Coltonn Peterson, Brendan Park and Isaac Erhard earned a Silver Rating, placing them squarely in the middle of the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards earned by 38 total teams.
“The whole experience was just surreal,” said Peterson. “Winning state was probably a Top 5 moment, maybe higher. And going to nationals was really cool. I’ve never seen so many people from different states in my life. Just looking around – we wear these blue jackets that are our official attire – you see Alabama, California, Texas, Delaware, Hawaii. You meet so many people, everybody is really nice, you get to talk with them, and it’s so much fun.”
Choosing a project
All three juniors were recruited last year as the school’s next Marketing Plan team by BHS Ag instructor and FFA advisor Gary Wirkus, who saw an opportunity based on their aptitude and common place of employment.
“They all work at Deer Lake Orchard, so they’re very knowledgeable about that company. I’ve never had that happen before (where they all work in the same place),” said Wirkus.
After interviewing their company owner, the boys decided to create a marketing plan for apple orchards to provide produce to schools. They created an eight-page report covering client status, behavior trends, budget and the five Ps of marketing (product, price, place, promotion and people). They interviewed nutrition directors at school districts large and small, from Anoka-Hennepin – the largest district in Minnesota – to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted.
“We found out what they like about getting local produce, things they would change, and how communication and delivery could be improved,” Erhard said.
“We wanted to talk to different sizes and see what their preferences are, and what fits for all the schools together,” said Park. “For example, the smallest district didn’t want as much produce because they didn’t have the personnel to handle it, but large districts had to go through different suppliers. So we wanted to figure out what size district we really wanted to market to. After that we really started ramping up.”
The team created a 32-slide presentation and memorized a 15-minute pitch, while also preparing for likely questions they would face from the judging panel. Coach Mike Socha directed their efforts, and expectations were high based on the recent run of success from Socha and previous BHS marketing teams.
“I would say nationals was on the radar from the start because of the previous success of our coach, Mike,” said Erhard. “He’s a very good coach, super smart. He told us we could do it if we pushed hard.”
“We put our time into it collectively and tried to give Buffalo our best shot,” said Park. “That we made it is an example of why Mike is one of the best marketing teachers in the whole country. We can’t thank him enough.”
At nationals
While the experience of competing at and winning state was a confidence-builder, Peterson said the scale of the national event and the pedigree of the judges was “nerve-wracking” when it came time to present.
“The judges typically are college professors, CEOs of companies like John Deere, marketing specialists from major companies like Cargill, things like that,” said Wirkus. “So when you make it to nationals you are exposed to a lot of different people. That’s what it’s about, making connections and networking.”
Despite their nerves, the group felt their presentation went well, although there were a few areas they thought could have been better. The overall experience, however, was unforgettable.
“Mr. Wirkus told us we’d be one of the top teams in the country right off the bat when we were thinking about doing the Market Plan,” said Peterson. “We were like, ‘What? Really?’ So we did it. We didn’t know it was going to be so much work until we got into it, but then we got into a rhythm and everything started clicking. It’s been such a cool learning experience for all of us. The number of doors that it opened up, the knowledge that Mike taught us, everything we know now about marketing – it’s crazy how much we’ve learned.”
Opportunity knowledge
Wirkus said the variety of fields within FFA competition reflect the wide-open career opportunities in agriculture. Asked what the sustained success of BHS students means to the local program, he said it helps build students’ opportunity knowledge.
“It helps our community as far as understanding that FFA is more than just production agriculture,” he said. “There are a lot of jobs, a lot of careers, in marketing our product. That’s what I think is really beneficial. You have a lot of businesses that find it very useful, as far as the younger generation, to see how they would market products, because it’s different from traditional marketing.”
The experience has also opened eyes for the national team members. Peterson hopes to pursue a career in engineering, but said he learned how much he enjoyed marketing and agriculture through the journey to nationals. Park said he genuinely enjoyed the process, particularly the graphic design portion, and along with Erhard feels the project may serve as a springboard for future careers.
“One thing I personally learned doing this is that I like marketing and graphic design. It could potentially be my future career, because I genuinely enjoyed the Marketing Plan,” said Park.
“I definitely see marketing as a potential option for me. Something in ag business is what I’m looking at for a career,” said Erhard. “It was a big accomplishment and opportunity to meet people and talk to different businesses and colleges there. It helped open doors for the future and prepare us, because at the end of the day the world runs on business.”
