SHOW NOTES

INTRODUCING MIKAYLA ENDRES! 

There are lots of electives you can register for when you are picking classes in high school.  And, there are lots of choices of extra-curricular activities.  All of these impact your parents in some way from having to purchase athletic equipment to paying for materials in a class.  But there is only one of these that will cause your parents to purchase a farm to support your activities, and that is the FFA!

Our guest today, Mikayla Endres, has been involved with raising and showing dairy cattle since she got her first heifer at the age of 9.  Her brothers are also involved in raising and showing cattle.  their involvement really took off when they got into the FFA and discovered all of the opportunities for them there.

When this all began Mikayla’s parents were renting a farm with a cattle facility on it.  As the years went on, her and her brother’s herds began to grow, and grow, and grow.  Eventually they started to outgrow the facility they were renting and her parents were forced to make a decision.  Luckily, Mikayla’s grandparents had a farm that they were ready to sell, and they were able to sell it to her parents.

Today Mikayla has been very successful with the dairy cattle she has been showing, especially with her milking shorthorn breed as well as her Ayrshires.  She has heifers that have now been purchased and gone all the way to the East Coast where they have been showed and continue to succeed.  Mikayla is very proud of the genetic heritage in the cattle that she has helped to create.

As a sophomore in college now, Mikayla is still active in her FFA chapter and has big plans for the future.  She is waiting until her last year of eligibility to give herself the best possible chance of success, and then she is going to apply for her American degree and compete to be the American Star Farmer.  It’s amazing what getting started with a heifer when you are nine years old can lead to.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Dairy & Diversified Livestock Production

HIGH SCHOOL: Lodi High School; Lodi, Wisconsin

MASCOT: Blue Devils

FFA ADVISOR: Conner Anderson

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MIKAYLA ENDRES:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Lodi High School Website:

Mikayla’s FFA Advisor’s Email Address: anderco@lodischoolswi.org

Lodi High School Telephone Number: 608-592-3851

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE’s)

Support FFA 

Donate to FFA – One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start – pay it forward.

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

• Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world.  FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
• Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
• Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“The future of American agriculture depends on the involvement and investment in America’s youth, In order to prepare for the population of tomorrow, we need to encourage America’s youth today, and show that careers in agriculture are profitable, rewarding, and vital.”.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue

Where Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald Can Be Heard:

Member Of The National Association Of Farm Broadcasters