Kasson native achieves FFA American Degree
Kasson’s Mollie Allen received an exclusive FFA honor on Oct. 29 in Indianapolis.
“It’s a national award you can receive,” Allen said of her FFA American degree, which only about 1 percent of all FFA members obtain. “I worked on it all through high school.”
She graduated from Kasson-Mantorville High School in 2020, and went on to study at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, where she’s now a junior. There she’s majoring in agriculture education with a minor in animal science.
Twenty-year-old Allen hopes to teach high school agriculture, as well as be an FFA advisor.
Years ago, she was a Kasson townie who, through friends, developed an interest in agriculture. She now has 40 cows on farm property her family leases.
Allen sells beef in wholes, halves and quarters and then raises show calves that she shows everywhere from county fairs to the national level at different cattle shows.
At college, she’s involved in the UWRF Block and Bridle, the UWRF Agriculture Education Society and the UWRF Alpha Tau Alpha, which is a professional teaching organization.
Leading up to getting her FFA American degree, Allen got her Greenhand degree in 2017, her Chapter degree in 2018 and her State degree in 2020. During her K-M FFA time she has served as chapter historian from 2017-18, treasurer from 2018-19 and vice president from 2019-20.
She’s been in FFA since she was a freshman in high school.
“I had grown up around horses,” Allen said. “My grandpa had horses and I showed horses. A few friends showed beef cattle, and it sparked my interest in showing beef cattle.”
Her family bought her first heifer from a local farming family, and they mentored her for a year. “From there I kept buying heifers and cows to build my herd alongside my parents,” she said.
Allen’s parents are Lyle and Jean Allen of Kasson.
Photo: Submitted Photo Kasson’s Mollie Allen showed off her American Degree certificate awarded in October at the national FFA convention. Allen, now a student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, has been a Kasson-Mantorville FFA member since 2017