La Porte-Dysart FFA members, junior Grace Ruzicka and senior Jillian Hanson pictured in Ames on Aug. 23 at the annual Iowa FFA Livestock Evaluation Career Development Event. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

AMES – The La Porte-Dysart FFA Chapter traveled to Ames last month for the annual Iowa FFA Livestock Evaluation Career Development Event where senior Jillian Hanson earned a top-10 placement individually out of 163 participating members from across 51 chapters.

During the Aug. 23 event held at Iowa State University (ISU), the Grinnell FFA Chapter was named the Champion Team; they will represent Iowa at the National Livestock competitions later this year. The DeWitt Central FFA Chapter was named the Reserve Champion Team.

The annual event provides an opportunity for FFA members to display their agricultural knowledge and skills in the area of livestock evaluation. Activities included: placing breeding and market classes of beef, swine, sheep and goats; keep/cull and oral reasons classes.

Sponsors this year included Iowa State University Block and Bridle Club and Iowa FFA Foundation Gold Standard Partners. The event was coordinated and conducted by Will Taylor and other faculty and staff with ISU’s Animal Science Department.

Overall, the La Porte-Dysart FFA Chapter earned a Bronze medal, scoring between 1,841 to 688.

Top 10 Teams

1 Grinnell FFA Chapter

2 DeWitt Central FFA Chapter

3 Keota FFA Chapter

4 Northeast FFA Chapter at Goose Lake

5 North Scott FFA Chapter at Eldridge

6 Agri-Power FFA Chapter at Eddyville

7 Westwood FFA Chapter at Sloan

8 Center Point-Urbana FFA Chapter

9 Aplington-Parkersburg FFA Chapter

10 Davis County FFA Chapter at Bloomfield

Top 10 Individuals

Makenna Burmeister, Independence FFA Chapter

Grace Flannigan, Westwood FFA Chapter at Sloan

Jillian Hanson, La Porte-Dysart FFA Chapter

Tate Beard, Crooked Creek FFA Chapter at Winfield

Lillie Curry, Mount Ayr FFA Chapter

Kyle Deppe, DeWitt Central FFA Chapter

Houston Holdgrafer, Easton Valley FFA Chapter at Preston

Cooper McCarty, Davis County FFA Chapter at Bloomfield

Andrew Klindt, North Scott FFA Chapter at Eldridge

Kadence Heald, Agri-Power FFA Chapter at Eddyville

Specialty Areas: Top Team/ Top Individual

Beef Placing

Team: Grinnell FFA Chapter

Individual: Lillie Curry, Mount Ayr FFA Chapter

Swine Placing

Team: Northeast FFA Chapter at Goose Lake

Individual: Makenna Burmeister, Independence FFA Chapter

Sheep Placing

Team: Grinnell FFA Chapter

Individual: Cooper McCarty, Davis County FFA Chapter at Bloomfield

Goat Placing

Team: Grinnell FFA Chapter

Individual: Makenna Burmeister, Independence FFA Chapter

Oral Reasons

Team: DeWitt Central FFA Chapter

Individual: Jillian Hanson, La Porte-Dysart FFA Chapter