Name: Cody Starnes, 17
Family: Eric and Rebecca Starnes and older brother, Ethan
Hometown: Lebanon, Mo.
Education: Junior at Lebanon High School, FFA Junior Vice-president
FFA Advisor: Sam Lower, Josh Toops and Craig Evans
What is your involvement in agriculture?
“I work in beef entrepreneurship which means I raise beef cattle. Right now it’s a job for me – in addition to going to high school – but I can also use the skills I learn now as well as in the future. I have two steers and five cows/heifers, mainly Angus and Limousin.”
What part is the least fun?
“There really isn’t any not-fun-part,” Cody added with a grin. “There are some parts that are hard though, like the fact that we get some of our animals because of a momma cow that wouldn’t accept the calf. That happened recently with a set of twins that our neighbor had. The momma cow wouldn’t accept one so we’re raising it and that means a bottle-fed calf. They are more prone to disease problems, like scours that you wouldn’t normally have to deal with, when a calf is fed by its mother. Scours, for instance, can get so serious you could even lose the calf.”
Future plans: “To keep expanding and to move my cattle to more of a black color. As for me, I plan to go to college, majoring in some sort of teaching, maybe agriculture or something else. I’m really interested in social studies and choral music so I’ll have to think about that. The best teachers are the ones you can tell actually care about their students and the best learning comes through good communication skills. All of my ag teachers, Sam Lower, my FFA advisor as well as teachers Josh Toops and Craig Evans have been such a big help to me.”
Story and Photo by Laura L. Valenti
