Odessa FFA members compete at state

On November 15, twelve FFA members were able to compete in State Potato Judging and State Tractor Driving. This event is held annually at CBTech in Moses Lake. FFA members from all over Washington come to compete. The potato-judging teams spent many hours looking over potatoes and studying their workbooks. Coming into the competition, they needed to be able to distinguish between a grade #1, grade #2 and a cull potato, as well as to state the five reasons why they are graded that way. The competition also includes identifying the types of many different diseases or issues that may affect the quality of the potato and organizing seed classes of potatoes.

The two tractor-driving teams spent many hours studying a 150-question test, identifying 150 different tractor parts and driving over the state tractor course. In the months leading up to the competition, Walter Implement, Inc. of Odessa assisted the local FFA tractor-driving students by allowing the chapter to borrow a tractor for practice under the strict supervision of volunteer tractor-driving coach Clint Campbell. "Such community assistance definitely makes this competition happen for the Odessa FFA kids," said FFA advisor and agricultural science teacher HaLee Walter.