The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

With the onset of more frequent sunshine, Chinook FFA Chapter Advisor, Karyn Billmayer shared some brilliant news. Chinook High School Senior, Austin Swanson has reached the final round in his efforts to earn the title of State Star Farmer. Because Swanson is among the top three finalists, he is scheduled to be in Billings on April 7 for a candidate's interview at the State FFA Convention. He will learn of his results on Friday, April 9.

The State Star Farmer is a prestigious award issued for outstanding achievement in a production agriculture Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). It further demonstrates superior involvement in all phases of the chapter's activities and active participation in the FFA.

According to Billmayer, reaching finalist status as a Star Farmer was a lengthy process. Swanson, who is the son of Klint and Lori Swanson, was required to complete a sixteen-page Montana State Degree application and a seventeen-page Star Farmer application.

In these application materials, Swanson had to verify not only that he had received the Chapter FFA Degree and been an active FFA member for at least two years at the time of receiving the State FFA Degree but to give evidence of both satisfactory academic achievement and leadership excellence.

According to FFA definitions, a demonstration of leadership ability involves performing ten procedures of parliamentary law, delivering a six-minute speech on a topic relating to agriculture or the FFA, and serving as an officer, committee chairperson, or participating member of a chapter committee. Swanson has served in the past as both Sentinel and Treasurer of the Chinook FFA Chapter.

Another prerequisite was completing a minimum of 25 hours of community service in at least two different activities. With his volunteerism through 4-H and the FFA, Swanson accumulated those hours of service to the Chinook community by helping pour concrete manure pads at the fairgrounds, establishing a community garden and constructing ten - 8 x15 plot boxes for plants, and repairing the post office benches, then affixing new plaques to them.

Leadership further includes an SAE program in which the candidate has earned and productively invested at least $1,500 or worked at least 450 hours in excess of scheduled class time. Swanson met this requirement by providing financial records and evidence of achievement with his Animal Systems Pathway over a span of six years. His SAE has involved raising cattle under the family business, Shipwheel Cattle Company. What started as a Breeding Project with four heifers and six cows has grown to four bulls, twelve cows, and twelve heifer and bull calves.

Swanson's small herd runs with the family's cattle. He invests time in their production every day, whether by fixing fence or cleaning pens. Before school, after, and on the weekends, he daily feeds on average a thousand head of cattle. Once the feeding is complete, he works on equipment or performs regular repairs. If there is feed to be hauled, he does that.

"There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not working for the Angus herd. From making hay to feeding it or from grading and maintaining roads, along with servicing and repairing equipment, all of my efforts go into being as efficient as possible," Swanson said.

Despite his best efforts, Swanson admits to challenges. "The most challenging task in agriculture is keeping a positive mindset during the tougher times. Whether it is dealing with bad weather, calves or full grown cattle dying unexpectedly, equipment giving me grief when it needs to be running, or just flat out bad market prices, we can fall below the break-even point. I just remind myself that everyone faces ups and downs, and I will too."

His accomplishments include equipment operation. "When I feed or operate various machines, I do my best to operate to my full potential, do minimal damage, and take good care of the equipment. The loader, feed truck, and a few tractors run every day for almost nine months of feeding in the feedlot and on the range. During haying, silage, and harvest seasons, it is a constant, around the clock operation to get the crop put up in the fastest, fashionable time with hopefully minimal breakdowns in the process. Keeping up on machinery maintenance allows us to be productive when that piece of equipment is needed the most," Swanson reported.

Swanson is also proud of his abilities to independently relocate hay and cattle. "Seventy-five percent of the feed and most of the livestock have to be hauled an average of fifty miles round trip with a semi. This leads to many hours on the road. I've been driving semi since I was eight-years-old in hay fields and stacking bales with Dad. Since then, Dad has given me more responsibilities with hauling loads and driving farther away from home."

Because he enjoys truck driving, Swanson plans to obtain a commercial driver's license (CDL) in April 2021 so that he can haul agriculture products such as hay, grain, livestock, or any type of feed.

These experiences with the FFA and his family's cattle operation will continue to impact Swanson's future. "Performance all comes down to that Angus cow and the ways you feed, breed, and maintain her. For five years now, we have used a radio-frequency identification (RFID) wand to be more productive with record keeping. By using this RFID wand, we can scan the animal as is goes through the chute, then tap into the software and save all the information per animal."

According to Swanson's mother, the electronic identification (EID) tags are small button-like tags that are placed in the ear. Each EID tag has a unique number printed on it. These tags, which are designed to last for the life of the animal, are read with a wand that sends the information to a computer or iPad. "This process makes life so much easier for us when we are working cattle," Lori reported. "Because the software generates spreadsheets and reports, every detail doesn't have to be handwritten and then manually entered into the computer. The RFID system not only saves time but reduces the margin of error."

Swanson recently decided that upon graduation, he will enroll in Helena College's Diesel Technology program. After a few years away from home, he plans on returning with additional skills.

For now, Swanson is looking ahead to State FFA Convention in Billings. Because Billmayer will be travelling to accompany him, the trip will enable her to take a parliamentary procedure team since that competition also falls on April 7. The officer team of Rebecca Stroh, President; Morgan Friede, Vice President; Bree Swanson, Secretary; Torin Cecrle, Sentinel; Ben LaVelle, Reporter; and Christopher Jungers, Treasurer will compete on Wednesday.

The group will be participating in some agriculture tours during their time in Billings as well.