OFI 1049: The Reason We Love Our Agricultural Community | FFA SAE Edition | Bethany Keller | Newberry High School FFA

INTRODUCING BETHANY KELLER:

The tagline for the Off-Farm Income Podcast calls agriculture “the ultimate lifestyle business”. I have made the argument for why this is true many, many times. One thing that we have never really done is delved deeply into why people are so attracted to this lifestyle. What is it that will make people work twice the hours for half the money just to be part of this group?

One answer to that is community. It is the community that we are so fortunate to be part of in agriculture that pulls people in. People in agriculture have old-fashioned values, and one of those old values is helping each other out. I think what keeps that ever-present in agriculture and farming is the fact that any of us can find ourselves in a situation that we cannot get out of ourselves at any moment. The need to call on neighbors or even strangers is always there.

Today’s interview profiles exactly why we love this community so much. It all starts with Bethany Keller. Bethany is a senior at Newberry High School in Newberry, Florida. She has been in their FFA chapter since middle school.

Bethany’s grandfather was diagnosed with cancer in February 2020. About a month after that she began her 2021 fair project, which was a steer that she was going to show and then sell at her county fair in March of 2021. Like any fair project, there is a lot of work involved, but with a steer, I think there is more. You have to start sooner, your feed cost will be higher, your purchase cost will be higher, you have to halter break, you need bigger equipment to transport a steer – everything is magnified.

To get motivated for a project of this scope a student needs to see a reward on the other end. Normally, that reward comes at the auction when you make money off of your steer. This was Bethany’s motivation, and this was totally appropriate. But about halfway to the fair Bethany found out that one of her friends had been diagnosed with cancer, and he and his family were facing significant medical bills.

Her friend’s diagnosis changed everything for Bethany. She decided then and there to forgo what she was going to make from the steer and to donate all the proceeds to help him with the medical bills. He resisted, but she insisted and it was done.

The fair arrived in March, and the night prior to the auction she was taken around the show ring, and a fair representative told her story and what she was doing. The following day at the auction, the auctioneer told the story again. Then the bidding for her steer began. By the time it was all said and done, Bethany’s community had bid her steer up to over $14,000. She was able to provide a great donation to her friend and his family through her selflessness and the generosity of her community.

That is a community and lifestyle worth making sacrifices to be part of!

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Cattle Production

HIGH SCHOOL: Newberry High School, Newberry, FL

MASCOT: Panthers

FFA ADVISOR: Amanda Burkett

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR BETHANY KELLER:

Click on the picture below to be taken to the Newberry High School website:

Bethany’s FFA Advisors’ Email Address: burkettal@gm.sbac.edu

Newberry High School’s Telephone Number:352-472-1101

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE’s)

Support FFA

Donate to FFA – FFA students can start small businesses 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% and the rest of the world. FFA provides the needed education, training, and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and ensure 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 food search 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