Passion for beef earns Utica grad FFA title
MARTINSBURG – The “little Martinsburg girl who’s obsessed with cows,” as she’s sometimes called, has hit the big time.
Amanda Annett, a 2021 Utica graduate whose family runs a beef farm on the Knox-licking County line, was crowned national champion in beef placement proficiency at the 94th National Future Farmers of America (FFA) Convention in Indianapolis earlier this year.
“There are 700,000 FFA members, and just to get there, you had to be in the top four in nation,” said Gina Neff, Utica agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor for the past seven years. “I thought she had a chance to win, because of her passion and love for the beef industry, and her wanting to provide the best care for the cows. I think her growth as part of the farm (she’s now in charge of the calf barn) has been very impressive.”
Annett helps dad Kevin and mom Tatum take care of over 300 head of cattle, and is now a student at Ohio State’s Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster. “I didn’t think I could win,” she admitted. “We raise Holstein steers, which are kind of on the backburner of the industry. I went up against bigger operations. It was a once in a lifetime feeling. When I was a freshman, I went to the convention and thought, ‘it would be cool to be up on that stage one day.’ I could not have made it, without the support of Miss Neff and my (FFA) chapter.”
To get there, Annett kept records of her Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAES) for five years. “It’s probably over 3,600 hours time logged, and probably more than that,” Neff said. “That’s including feeding, castrating, de-horning, cleaning barns, mixing milk bottles, bedding barns and spreading manure. It’s 16 months from the trailer to the processor (for the cows).” The Annett’s cows average 1,390 pounds for market.
Amanda had to persevere to even be in position for her prestigious award. It started her junior year of high school, and as a senior, she took third in the
state with no interviews conducted due to COVID-19. With one more year of eligibility, she gave it a final shot. With interviews conducted by Zoom this time around, Annett won the state in beef placement proficiency and placed second in diversified livestock proficiency (her family also takes care of 2,500 head of hogs across the road from their home).
“She was at the state fair when I found out (that she made top four in the country), and I just had to tell her in person,” said Neff, who also had a state proficiency winner when she was FFA advisor at Lancaster. “Beef proficiency is one of the biggest competitions, because there’s usually between 20 and 30 in the state.”
After Amanda won state, Neff went to a critique of Annett’s interview, which was used on her national application and sent off to the national judges in July. Getting the good news of making the nationals in August, it was then time to prepare for her final interview in September. And then the wait began until being informed of her title in October at Indianapolis, where Neff and 16 other Utica FFA members were on hand for the excitement.
“Her being able to accept the feedback, of myself and others, played a big part,” Neff said. “It was a lot of preparation and practice interviews.”
“The toughest part was the record keeping. It was not something I always wanted to do,” Amanda said. “But in high school, I realized how important it was.”
She also realized how important developing the farm was to her dad.
“He started with just a couple of steers, and I thought it would be cool, to help him get it to this size,” Annett said. “There’s so much family to it.”
There’s a lot of hands on work at OSU’S ATI at Wooster, and Amanda’s goal is to put it to good use on further developing the farm.
“I’ve thought about going into livestock buying with United Producers Incorporated,” she said. “And potentially taking over management decisions and growing the farm, maybe to like 500 head.”
Perhaps the most important thing to her, is feeling she’s making a difference in the lives of many.
“With all the stuff I’ve learned, I realize how important this industry is, not only to my generation, but to future generations,” Annett said. “We’re feeding millions of people.” dweidig@gannett.com 740-973-4503
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