Zoey Guffey
Parents: Stephanie and Stacy Guffey
Hometown: Bakersfield, Mo.
School: Bakersfield High School
Grade: 10
FFA Advisor: Lyn Cotter
What do you like best about the agricultural life?
“Just getting to go out and do things that other kids don’t get to do every day, like having the ability to help out with the cattle, having my own start in life. I have my own cows – just the ability to do that. I like being independent and responsible.”
Do you think you might make a career out of agriculture?
“Oh, definitely. For a long time I wanted to be a vet, but the older I get the more I look at embryo transplants. My dad, just today, took a cow to flush. I just think it’s cool. I’ve wanted to do that for years, but now that I’ve been with more registered cattle and the AI genetics and all that, the AI and embryo transplanting seems really cool and something I would love doing. Although, I plan to go to college, the embryo transplant is a specific thing, like a trade school, and I would have to go to that.”
4-H Involvement: “I started in 4-H when I was 6 as a Clover Kid, and I was showing when I was 8. I’ve been in 4-H except for the last year when I started with FFA.”
FFA Involvement: “I always knew I was going to be in FFA. It isn’t just agriculture, of course. FFA has given me a lot of leadership skills and has given me several opportunities to practice that. I’m an FFA officer this year, so that’s given me a good boost in FFA. I’ve also learned how to give speeches.”
Who has been the most influential person in your life?
“I’d have to say my father and my mom both, and my uncle. When I was younger, maybe about 4 or 5, I started taking care of my own cattle. I had one calf and I’d take the feed out. That’s where I started, that’s where my profit came from to start my own herd.”
How do you feel that the agricultural industry will change in your lifetime?
“Kids today aren’t getting as involved in ag as they used to be. I’m thinking that the population of teens involved in agriculture in the future, like in 10 to 15 years, might decrease. But I don’t want that at all. I wish there could be more young people in ag.”
