Hayfield FFA members receive state honors

When the Minnesota State FFA Convention gets under way on April 19, two Hayfield FFA Chapter members will be among those recognized for their achievements.
Brooke Bauer, a junior and the daughter of Tony and Paula Bauer of Hayfield, ranked in the top three in the state in Dairy Entrepreneurship. Isaac Beck, a junior and the son of Jamie and Lori Beck of Rose Creek, was a state winner in Specialty Livestock Production. As a state winner he will move on to the national competition in Indiana.
Beck has been a member of the FFA for five years and is involved in raising show quality llamas. He raises, shows and also sells the animals throughout the country, he said.
“I really enjoy it,” he said of raising an animal that is not real common.
Llamas, he said, are a fiber bearing animal from South America and they are relatively new here having been introduced in the 1970s.
They are sheared for their fiber, he said, and also make great guard animals for sheep and goats. Each one, he added, has their own personality.
His aunt, he explained, had sheep and goats and she introduced him to the llama. “I quickly fell in love with them,” he said.
For the state event, he said, he had to fill out an in-depth application. This application, he said, will be revised for the national event.
Beck said he has not yet decided about his college future, but he intends to major in some area of agriculture.
Bauer’s project is raising dairy cattle.
She has been involved in dairy, she said, since she was nine years old because that is when she got her first dairy cow. She now owns 11 Brown Swiss animals. Her family also raises beef cattle in addition to the dairy animals.
In summer, she says, she shows her cows at national shows as do her siblings.
Even before she got her own cow she was no stranger to shows since they are part of her family’s activities.
“I’ve been showing cows since I was two,” she said.
In addition to FFA, she is a member of Dodge County 4-H.
Like Beck, her project requires her to keep detailed records of her business. Fortunately, she said, her mom is good at bookkeeping and accounting so she was able to show her how to do it. Since all events have been virtual, she said, she also had to submit pictures of her animals.
In addition, she added, she is part of the Dairy Evaluation Team going to state.
Brooke is the president of the Hayfield FFA and said she is considering two career options. On is agriculture education and the second is agriculture law.