Cashmere FFA sending record number of students to National Convention

CASHMERE — A record 16 Cashmere FFA members will represent their chapter at the National FFA Convention this fall, capping a year of achievements supported by the group’s booster club.

The students qualified in four competitions — Environmental Natural Resources, Food Science, Meats Evaluation and Milk Quality — during state events last spring. They will travel to Indianapolis, Indiana, Oct. 25–Nov. 1 for the national contests.

The Environmental Natural Resources team includes Abigail Kim, Finn Smith, Marshall Pell and Adi Poole. Their events will test knowledge of environmental science and require students to determine water quality, identify natural resource species and equipment, analyze waste management scenarios, navigate a GPS course, and evaluate land for erosion prevention. It will be the seventh time Cashmere FFA has sent a team in this category.

In Food Science, Logan Potter, Dayami Najar, Addie Talley and Madisyn Stoffel will compete in challenges that include a 150-point knowledge test, solving food processing problems, handling customer complaint scenarios, and developing a new food product for a panel of judges. Since 2013, Cashmere has sent eight teams in Food Science.

Aleida Nolasco, Sophie Hill, Jacob Holladay and Paige Dart make up the Meats Evaluation team. They will grade beef carcasses for quality and yield, select carcasses based on pricing, and identify 120 retail meat cuts from beef, pork and lamb. This will be the eighth time Cashmere has qualified in Meats since 2013.

The Milk Quality team consists of Gloria Smith, Addy Burger, Jair Naranjo and Vanessa Oropeza. They will be tested on milk production, processing and marketing with a written exam. The competition also includes analyzing production data, identifying 19 varieties of cheese, and recognizing off-flavors that can occur during production. It will be the seventh Milk Quality team Cashmere has sent to nationals.

The Cashmere FFA Boosters, which this year supported more than 70 students at the Chelan County Fair, sent 40 members to the state convention in Pullman and awarded eight scholarships totaling more than $7,000, will close out their fundraising efforts with the annual Prime Rib Dinner and Auction on Oct. 4 at the Chelan County Fairgrounds. The event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets will be sold at the door, with advance purchases available through booster contacts.