INDIANAPOLIS- Winners of the National FFA Meats Evaluation and Technology Career Development Event (CDE) were announced Friday at the annual awards banquet. The event was held in conjunction with the 85th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Ind. Dr. Randy Harp of Texas and Mr. Jodie Pitcock (USDA) of Iowa served as co-superintendents of this year’s event. The top ten individuals and the national winning team members received cash awards to recognize their success in the event. The cash awards and the event are sponsored by Cargill Meat Solutions, Hormel Foods Corporation, Kraft Foods-Oscar Mayer and Tyson Foods, Inc. as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.
The National FFA Meats Technology and Evaluation CDE is a competitive event that tests students’ skills and competencies in evaluating and identifying meat carcasses and products. Event components include a general knowledge exam; beef carcass evaluation; identification of wholesale and retail cuts of beef, lamb, and pork; quality and yield grading of beef carcasses; a team meat merchandising event; and solving of a meat formulation problem. Each team has competed on the local and state levels to earn the privilege of representing their state at the National FFA Convention & Expo.
This event, held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Champaign, Ill., is one of many educational activities at the National FFA Convention & Expo in which FFA members apply classroom knowledge to real-life situations.
Top Placing Teams
1st Place– Texas Shelby Martin, Cole Perkins, James Smarr, and Eli Tiffin, all of Llano FFA
2nd Place– California Donnielle Aluisi, Kelsey Gray, and Travis McDonald, all of Clovis FFA
3rd Place– North Dakota Matthew Mattern, Matt Johnson, and Jaedon Haman, all of Rugby FFA
4th Place– Florida Cody Casperson, Brandon McKee, Jessica Humphrey, and Julie Sharpe, all of Okeechobee Brahman FFA
5th Place– Kansas Katie Blankenship, Casey Henderson, Eli Stalker, and Alan Caro, all of Satanta FFA
6th Place– Minnesota Josh Christoffer, Matthew Schmit, Jordan Snyder, and Ben Stubbe, all of Jackson FFA
7th Place– Oregon Caitlynn Rose Barton, Amedy Rian Vanderkooy, Fawn R Vargas, and Callie Hobson, all of Hermiston FFA
8th Place– Washington Bryson O’Neill, Brandon Knodel, Connor O’Neill, and Bridger Smith, all of Lind FFA
9th Place– New Mexico Hailey Dimitroff, Mckayla Gunn, and Skylar McMath, all of Fort Sumner FFA
10th Place– Illinois Naomi Knapp, Shanna Slagel, Jason Wenger, and Luke Schaffer, all of Prairie Central FFA
