Tyler Kay
Age: 16
Family: Richard and Dana Kay and brother, Justin Kay, age 19
School: Junior at Lebanon High School
FFA Advisor: Craig Evans
What is your involvement in agriculture?
“With me, it’s all about horses, Quarter Horses,” Tyler shared. “Our family has seven horses, two of them are mine to ride, Rowdy and Jewels. A third one is a colt which we call Pucklehead. My mom started calling her that and the name just stuck.
“Last year in FFA, I was part of the horse team. We are given four horses and we judge them on their structure and their good qualities and then we give the reasons that we ordered them the way we did. We also take a test over horse diseases and other information. We went to FFA state competition but we didn’t go any further. I was also on the dairy foods team. I hope to be part of the livestock team this coming year.”
He added, “I showed a red boiler chicken and entered plants at the Laclede County Fair this year and I’d like to show a steer or lamb or some other larger animal at next summer’s fair.”
What are your future plans in agriculture?
“I plan to go on to get a four-year degree in agriculture and I’d eventually like to work in an office like the NRCS office or something similar,” Tyler continued. “Right now I help out in the Lebanon NRCS office, with Mary Jo Tannehill, the office manager. I help with answering the phone, paperwork, just whatever needs done. I especially like the field work and would love to do that as a full-time job someday. I like being out in the field, planning out fences, just all the related field work.”
Other Activities: “I’m really active in my church, Trinity Full Gospel, and I’m part of the YEP Committee at the high school, that’s the Youth Empowerment Project. We do fundraisers that benefit the community like the Marker Drive earlier this year and now the Teddy Bear Drive. We donated the markers to the children’s hospital program and of course, the teddy bears will also go to local children’s programs.”
