National FFA President, Millennial Farmer tour WCA greenhouse

C. A. Ray

Grant County Herald

The West Central Area FFA kicked off FFA Week with a visit from National FFA President, Andrew Seibel; Millennial Farmer, Zach Johnson; Minnesota State Officers, Emma Kuball – President, Natalie Beckendorf – Vice President, and Caidyn Johnson – Reporter!

“What a way to kick off National FFA Week!” exclaimed WCA FFA Advisor Eric Sawatzke, whose FFA Chapter hosted a big open house for the FFA Greenhouse on Tuesday.

Zach Johnson hosts a very popular Facebook page Millennial Farmer. Based out of the Glenwood area, he posts everyday observations from his family owned, 6th-generation, century farm.

After his visit to WCA on Monday, Johnson posted the following: “Our local West Central Area FFA  has an awesome new greenhouse to work and learn in! I was lucky enough to have a look this afternoon and meet the current @nationalffa President along with some MN State Officers. Very, very cool project for the community. In my opinion, you simply can’t beat hands-on learning. The plants will be sold to help pay for the maintenance and feed the local community. So freaking awesome.”

Andrew Seibel is a sophomore at Virginia Tech, Roanoke, Virginia, who belongs to the Lord Botetourt FFA. He is involved in  Beef Cattle, Wine Grape Production, majoring in Agribusiness. College activities include: Premium Hospitality Intern – Virginia Tech Hokie Club; Intern – Virginia FFA Association, and his career goal is to pursue a career that works with people and is ever-evolving.

Andrew Seibel’s journey with FFA started when he was a baby and attended his first National FFA Convention. FFA is a family tradition; his dad taught agricultural education before becoming state staff for Virginia FFA. “Growing up in this organization is a true blessing,” Seibel said. “But it was when I realized that I could be my own person through the blue jacket that I really began to fall in love with the organization and see how many opportunities it truly held.”

This year, Seibel hopes to cultivate an environment that makes every student feel seen and heard. “I want it to be a place where every person knows that they are worthy as they are and will never need to be anyone but themselves to be successful.”