Canyon FFA took nine career development event (CDE) teams to compete in the state level at three central Texas universities during the week of April 28. Two of the teams, Forage and Milk Quality placed in the top 10.

“The cool thing about all of our contests is that they are directly related to a career in agriculture,” agriculture teacher Jeff Klose said.

Klose said CDE competitions are one of the most important things students can do.

“We had a very young group of students and had two teams place in top ten,” Klose said. “I think it went very well.”

The forage team included junior Rachel Crandall, and freshmen Luke Bruce, Madison Hill and Cade Rhodes. Together they placed fifth out of 51 teams in four stages consisting of hay placing and grading, plant identification, a written exam and problem solving in their contest at Sam Houston State University. Rhodes placed 24th out of 189 people in the contest.

“I think it was a good experience for me,” Rhodes said. “I learned some valuable skills like plant identification.”

The milk quality team placed ninth out of 51 teams at Tarleton State University. Team members included juniors Sarahbeth Hale, Madison Matlock, Kate Mischak and Brianna Ramsay. Students complete a written exam, evaluate milk samples, identify cheeses and distinguish real and artificial dairy foods.

Students also competed at Texas A&M University in livestock, poultry, meat judging, and veterinary science. Teams farm business management, nursery and landscape, and ag sales competed at Sam Houston State University. More detailed results can be found at https://www.judgingcard.com/.