Trescher earns honorary state FFA degree

CASHTON, Wis. — Derek Trescher has been active in the National FFA Organization since his high school days, and because of his experiences during that time, he has always wanted to find ways to give back. His effort to do just this helped him earn an honorary state FFA degree.

“I was checking the spam folder of my email and saw one that looked kind of important,” Trescher said. “I opened it and saw that I had earned the honorary state degree. My first thought was, who would nominate me, and why did they think I’d be a good candidate? There are plenty of deserving people.  I’m very thankful that I was lucky enough to be selected.”

Trescher made his 10th trip to the state convention at the beginning of the summer. This time, his wife, Emily, was by his side. Receiving the honorary degree was a special experience. Announcing the award was his friend and colleague, Collin Weltzien, and presenting it was President Jescey Thompson, who also hails from Trescher’s section.

“It was really neat to have some others from my section present me with the award,” Trescher said. “Collin did a great job and had to give me a little grief as I was getting on stage, but it was really nice to be presented the award from people who have worked with me and know me. Being on the state board, I got to know a lot of these people over the last six years. It’s always the people that make it special and you’ll remember.”

Trescher farms on his dad’s farm, Town View Dairy, near Cashton where they milk 80 cows in a tiestall barn. 

Every year, FFA presents honorary state degrees to individuals who have made significant contributions to FFA and agricultural education. Trescher checks both of those boxes. He has been an active member of his chapter’s alumni group in addition to serving on the state board, where he has worked as the fundraising chairperson for several years.

During his time as the fundraising chair, he knew he wanted to do his part to ensure youth participating in FFA would have experiences like his.

“We see less and less state funding every year,” Trescher said. “We want to provide the kids an opportunity to be active and to have the same opportunities that we had. The activities and conferences that FFA provides are great experiences for young people.”

Ensuring that young people have equal, if not better, experiences was vital to Trescher. As an active member of FFA throughout his high school career, being a member on the state board was not an accomplishment he had on his bingo card.

“My brother-in-law and I finished chores and ended up an hour and 15 minutes late to a meeting,” Trescher said. “The last thing on the agenda was state representative nominations. We were nominated and seconded, and next thing you know, we were on the board.”

Trescher said the experience of being a state board representative was exceptional. The chance to talk to other people with similar goals about the direction of the future of FFA was notable.

“We’re all trying to keep the future of agriculture alive and help out where we can,” Trescher said. “I wasn’t hoping to be put on the state board, but when I was, I knew I wanted to help accomplish some things to keep FFA running well and giving kids opportunities to learn and grow.”

Trescher has been an active member with the Cashton FFA Chapter and its alumni group for several years. He was treasurer for four years during high school and participated on livestock and soil judging teams that earned a trip to nationals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After graduating, Trescher earned his American and State degrees. He also was treasurer for the alumni group for a decade.

“There are so many leadership activities that FFA provides that kids can get so much out of,” Trescher said. “I wish I would have done more of those conferences when I was a member. You can meet new people and learn ways that other people tackle similar problems to those you have. That interaction is huge. And you get to make lifelong friends.”

It was because of these experiences that Trescher was adamant about continuing to help provide the youth of the Cashton FFA Chapter with similar experiences.

Cashton FFA awards $5,000 in scholarships annually, while supporting half the cost for every conference and purchasing half of the jackets when current members buy their own blue corduroy.

“FFA to its core is about agriculture,” Trescher said. “If we don’t continue to help grow what we have, we’re going to lose it. We want to contribute to build into the youth, give them an opportunity to grow up and be part of agriculture and have an active role. It’s always neat when I learn about a celebrity or politician who was in FFA. The core values of FFA can really help build youth up to become leaders of the future.”