Chase Myatt is heading back to the FFA National Convention after his animal science project earned a national finalist award.

The 96th National FFA Convention and Expo is Nov. 1-4 at Indianapolis, Indiana.

Myatt will be a high school freshman this fall. This is his second trip to the national convention. Both of his qualifying projects involve rabbits, which he raises on his family’s farm near Baker City.

His latest project focused on finding the optimal amount of food to sustain the weight of adult meat rabbits through the winter, which is when rabbits run a higher body temperature and require more food. Through January and February, Myatt tracked the weight and feed of four rabbits as he decreased the ratio of food each week until he found the lowest amount that would not cause weight loss.

He might continue this research project in a different season.

“Now I’m really curious about the summer,” he said.

As a finalist, Myatt will be interviewed, have his research poster on display and go on stage to find out the final results of the awards.

“Only the top 10 in the nation for each category are finalists, so it’s a pretty big accomplishment to make it that far, especially two years in a row,” said Bibiana Gifft, an FFA advisor at Baker High School. “We’ve been working really hard to teach scientific inquiry through the context of agriculture, and to see our students doing real world experiments that impact them directly is so rewarding.”

Myatt well remembers his first time on that national stage.

“Last year there were 67,000 people watching me,” he said.

Bronze Awards

Although only the top 10 in each category go on to the national convention, a number of local FFA projects won at the state level to advance to nationals.

Five FFA members from Baker High earned bronze awards for their agriscience projects:

• Marquesa Peterson and Taylor Johnson: Food Products and Processing Systems

• Alexzandria Honsvick: Plant Systems

• Jaxon Ford and Seth Holden: Power, Structural and Technical Systems

Proficiency Project

Paige Marlia, a senior at Powder Valley High School in North Powder, earned a gold award at the national level for her proficiency project in entrepreneurship for raising a small cattle herd. The project is also her Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE), which won at the district and state levels to qualify for nationals.

The local FFA district covers Baker, Union and Wallowa counties.

“We’re a very competitive district,” said Hailey Patterson, FFA advisor at North Powder.

According to the FFA website, proficiency awards “honor FFA members who, through supervised agricultural experiences, have developed specialized skills that they can apply toward their future careers.”

An SAE “extends learning beyond the classroom,” Patterson said. For these projects, she said students keep track of total hours, expenses, income, community service and involvement in FFA events. All of this information is then compiled, along with an end-of-year summary, and submitted for evaluation.

Marlia, who lives in Baker City, started her herd in 2019. She joined FFA, she said, because it’s part of life in North Powder, where she attends school.

“I felt like everyone had cows,” she said.

She started with one animal, purchased from the Chandler ranch, and it’s grown every year. She showed Wilbur, a steer she raised from a calf, at the Baker County Fair earlier this month.

She has one more year of FFA, then plans to sell her herd.

“And put that money toward college, which has always been the plan,” she said.

National Band

Hunter Bingham, a senior at Powder Valley, was recently selected to perform with the National Band at the FFA convention in November. This is the second year he’s been chosen for the honor.

Fundraisers

FFA programs hold fundraisers throughout the school year to help fund travel to competitions and conventions.

In Baker City, the fall drive-thru barbecue dinner will be in October, although the date hasn’t yet been set. For updates, check the Baker School District 5J page on Facebook, or check with Baker High School, 541-524-2600.

In North Powder, the FFA chapter has a live Facebook auction that often features items created by FFA members. This year’s auction is Nov. 30. Follow updates on the Facebook page for North Powder Schools — Home of the Badgers.