Dairy farms enable Minnesota FFA’s stars

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Two of the four Minnesota FFA stars named April 20 at the Minnesota State FFA Convention have dairy farms to thank for the work that led to the organization’s top honors. For Blake Siewert, that experience was on his family’s dairy, and for Jada Hansen, it was multiple dairies selling her calves to raise.

The star award singles out the top FFA members, one in each of four categories, who earn the Minnesota FFA degree through their Supervised Agricultural Experience over the course of their FFA career.

Siewert, son of Kevin and Kay Siewert of Lake City, was named Minnesota FFA’s state star in production placement, which focuses on the work a member does through employment. Hansen, daughter of Wayne and Jackie Hansen of Foley, earned the title of star farmer, which honors a member who has succeeded in building a business.

A star is also chosen in agriculture, food and natural resource science, and in agriculture placement, a category that singles out those with jobs beyond the family farm.

Siewert, 18, has worked on his family’s 700-cow dairy, Hyde Park Holsteins, since childhood. Over time, his duties expanded and helped shape his plans to become a veterinarian. He will attend the University of Minnesota after graduating this spring.

“I started out feeding calves, and as I got older, I started helping a little in the summer with chopping,” he said. “Then it was newborn calves, giving them colostrum, tagging, vaccinating.”

By his freshman year in high school, Siewert was involved with diagnosing and treating sick calves, giving cows intravenous treatments when needed, and then moving on to reproductive work the next year.

“I started breeding cows in 10th grade, trained by my grandpa,” Siewert said. “That’s an interest of mine. … It’s fun to do. My main interest is the genetics and the health of the animals.”

His grandfather, Kerwin, is the oldest of the three generations involved in the dairy. Along with Kerwin, Blake’s father and Blake’s uncles, Justin and Jake, operate the farm with their families.

Siewert’s farm work has advanced to being part of culling decisions that move cows both to slaughter and to other dairies.

Siewert was eligible to earn the star award through tracking his work for his FFA SAE.

“It made me see what I do — putting it down on paper and filing the application,” he said. “I could track the progress on goals for myself and measure those goals better with recordkeeping.”

That kind of tracking was also a necessary part of Jada Hansen’s work with dairy farmers. She was chosen as a star for her business raising feeder calves bought from dairy farms. Over the course of her FFA membership, Hansen has moved more than 400 head of cattle.

Her SAE in beef production was triggered when a dairy farmer for whom she had been milking moved, leaving her jobless. She was 15 and had been milking cows since age 11.

“That sparked an idea to buy a few calves, and I discovered that’s where my passion was,” Hansen said. “I never intended for it to grow to this size; it all literally just fell into my hands.”

Her current business includes 120 calves on bottles at all times, raising 30-60 animals in a feedlot, renting two facilities for housing, and employing a part-time person to keep up with the work.

Hansen, 18, did not grow up on a farm, and her parents are not farmers.

“My knowledge came from surrounding farmers who helped me in certain situations,” she said. “I bought equipment with cash and over time, I have accrued some debt. But that was needed so I could grow.”

While she initially bought calves from several farmers, one dairy farm now supplies her animals regularly. She picks up bull calves once a week, raises them to 200 pounds and markets them across three states. A recent sale was made to buyers who plan to use the animals as roping steers.

Beyond the calves and feedlot, Hansen rents ground to raise 75 acres of hay. She bought a tractor, baler, disc mower-conditioner, tedder and a rake to make hay in big round and small square bales.

Hansen plans to pursue her business full time after graduation this spring. She hopes to keep growing it and buy a farm within four or five years. In the meantime, becoming an FFA star is an important achievement.

“There are no words to describe how proud I am of myself,” she said.