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During the 95th Tennessee FFA Convention, five state stars were announced. Hear from the State Star in Agriscience and the State Star Greenhand.
Amy Beckham: FFA Stars. Hello there and welcome to Tennessee Home and Farm Radio, I’m Amy Beckham.
Lillie Cagle: I’m just really grateful for this opportunity not only to represent my chapter of Bledsoe County and East Tennessee, but the entire state as the star in agriscience.
Amy Beckham: During the 95th Tennessee FFA State Convention, five state stars were announced, and Lily Cagle of Bledsoe County was named the State Star in Agriscience. She explains what this award is all about.
Lillie Cagle: Star awards would technically be whoever has the best proficiency and the best SAE. So, agriscience is really just understanding and researching more about the agriculture industry and finding solutions to that, and just compared to everybody else in the state, which I know the other candidates that are applying for this were just as amazing and I’m just very grateful for this opportunity.
Amy Beckham: Lillie provides some insight into the research she has completed during her time in the blue jacket.
Lillie Cagle: So I’ve completed three projects through agriscience research. The first one was comparing how high fat and low fat diets affect your brain. The second one was comparing the safety and effectiveness of ozone cleaning and the last one was the effects of acid precipitation on the environment and how we can reverse those.
Amy Beckham: The state star greenhand is Cannon Wilhoit of the South Greene FFA chapter who is a freshman in high school and has already competed in several contests
Cannon Wilhoit: I’ve competed in every contest that I could. I’ve been in soil judging, livestock, I’ve competed in creed. I’ve done multiple different CDEs and competed across the country with my Boer goats.
Amy Beckham: And Cannon explains a little about what this prestigious honor means to her.
Cannon Wilhoit: For me, that’s just a way for me to be able to get the Boer goat name out there, especially in Tennessee because it’s not a big name, but also to me, it just means that I’m able to promote the agriculture industry, which is what I’m all about. It’s what I want to do with my future.
Amy Beckham: And although just in her first year of FFA, Cannon has already seen an impact from being involved in the organization.
Cannon Wilhoit: I’ve always loved agriculture and I knew I wanted to do something in it, and now I’ve been able to compete across the country and learn so much about FFA and the agriculture industry.
Amy Beckham: Congratulations to those state stars and stay tuned for more of the award winners. For Tennessee Home and Farm Radio, I’m Amy Beckham.
