The American Star Awards represent the best of the best among thousands of American FFA Degree recipients. Finalists for the award have mastered skills in production, finance, management and/or research. FFA members who have earned their American FFA Degrees are eligible for the American Star Awards. American FFA Degree must be earned the same year that a candidate is applying for a Star Award. State FFA associations nominate American Star Award candidates based on the quality of their American FFA Degree and Star Battery applications.
Meet the 2015 finalists:
The American Star Awards are sponsored by ADM, Case IH, DuPont-Pioneer, Elanco, Farm Credit and Syngenta with local and state support from CNH Industrial and DuPont-Pioneer.
American Star Farmer
The FFA member with the top production agriculture SAE program each year is recognized as the American Star Farmer. Four national finalists vie for the star award. Considered the highest recognition in the nation for an aspiring young farmer, the award recognizes achievement in both career and leadership development.
2015 Finalists:
- Dylan Kale Massa of the Liberal FFA Chapter in Missouri
- Logan Peters of the Pender FFA Chapter in Nebraska
- Thomas Wayne Glascock of the Pilot Point FFA Chapter in Texas
- Austin Wippel of the Westfall FFA Chapter in Ohio
American Star in Agribusiness
Each year one member with the best non-production entrepreneurial agribusiness SAE and proven leadership skills is selected to be the American Star in Agribusiness. Four national finalists compete for this prestigious award, the highest achievement for a person pursuing a career in agribusiness.
2015 Finalists:
- Dakota Duane Crissman of the Bells FFA Chapter in Texas
- William James Maltbie of the Burlington FFA Chapter in Oklahoma
- Benjamin Neal Niendick of the Wellington-Napoleon FFA Chapter in Missouri
- Dakota Siegler of the Badger FFA Chapter in Wisconsin
American Star in Agricultural Placement
One member with the best placement SAE program and proven leadership skills is selected to be the American Star in Agricultural Placement. The member’s placement experience can include paid labor hours or directed laboratory unpaid labor hours.
2015 Finalists:
- Kenneth Coddington of the Montello FFA Chapter in Wisconsin
- Britt Larson of the Pilot Point FFA Chapter in Texas
- Jakob Edward Wilson of the Fairbanks FFA Chapter in Ohio
- William Zell Woodworth of the Mineral County FFA Chapter in West Virginia
American Star in Agriscience
The American Star in Agriscience winner will have an SAE program in which the student is actively engaged in agriscience research and experimentation. This includes students who are actively engaged in doing their own research individually, as well as those students who may be cooperating on research projects with others including but not limited to teams in school, experiment stations or colleges/universities. The hypothesis may be formulated by the student or provided to them by a co-researcher. The students must be actively involved in the development of the experimental design, collection of data, interruption of the data and publicizing the results to be considered as an American Star in Agriscience. Their program could be an entrepreneurship or placement type program. The placement type program does not have to be paid hours, but the member must have met the minimum requirements for the American FFA Degree.
2015 Finalists:
- Jillian Ann Drake of the Fallbrook FFA Chapter in California
- Gatlin Cy Squires of the Kingfisher FFA Chapter in Oklahoma
- Rory Christina Tucker of the Klein FFA Chapter in Texas
- Justin Zahradka of the Park River FFA Chapter in North Dakota
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