Vernon County, Mo., teen wins state award for her crop research project
SCHELL CITY, MO. – The Missouri FFA Association recognized Ayren Rapp of the Northeast Vernon County (Mo.) FFA Chapter as the State Star in Agriscience at the 95th Missouri FFA Convention. She is the daughter of Aylesa and Wade Rapp of Schell City. Her advisor is Brett Neil.
The National FFA Agriscience Fair recognizes students who are studying the application of scientific principles and emerging technologies in agricultural enterprises. Participation begins at the local chapter level and progresses to the state and national levels.
The State Star in Agriscience is selected based upon outstanding achievement in agriscience as part of a student’s supervised agricultural experience (SAE) program and active participation in FFA. SAE can be different projects from youth to youth.
Ayren’s SAE is varied. She worked at an agricultural-services facility and on the family farm where she had 12 acres of cropland.
“I chose to do a trial on my bean crop for my agriscience research project. I have a deep interest in plants and their benefits,” Ayren explained. “I compared two foliar products with similar nutrient make-up, but different manufacturers. The end result was not a dramatic difference, but after analyzing the crop’s yield and the cost of each foliar fertilizer, one product was clearly more cost effective, yielded more bushels per acre and therefore the better product.”
She competed in the area and state levels and won at both before going on to becoming a State Star in Agriscience.
“I was happy with my project and results but learned a few things that I could improve upon in future research projects,” Ayren said of the experience.
Participating as an officer in FFA for four years. Ayren has served as secretary, treasurer, vice president and president. For educational and fun purposes, she attended FFA Camp, Missouri State FFA Convention (twice) and National FFA Convention for three times. She has competed in the nursery/landscape and meats evaluation career development events on the state level. She has also attended the Helping Youth Maximize their Agricultural eXperience (HYMAX) Academy.
Other school activities included volleyball, cheerleadingNational Honor Society and student council. She serves as secretary for the student council and her senior class. Ayren is also an active member of her church and youth group.
Ayren willed her FFA jacket to all three of her brothers at the local FFA Banquet.
“Because that is where it all started,” she said. “They each helped me be a more efficient FFA member.”
It is good to have the support from her brothers and family, but it takes more. Ayren has had the initiative to go above the required studies and show her willingness to work because she has been taught, even as a young child, how to work. Each member of the family had different tasks to perform. She earned success at a higher level because of her drive to learn more about how different processes work and her love of agriculture.
Ayren plans to attend Northwest Missouri State University to major in agriculture science. Afterwards, she plans to return to work at the family farm. Here she can put to use all of her newfound knowledge and experiences to keep the agriculture industry moving forward through more generations.
