2023 Idaho State FFA Convention
Receiving Awards, Sponsoring Sessions & More
Last month, Valley Wide Cooperative attended and participated in the 2023 Idaho FFA State Convention held in Twin Falls, Idaho. Jim McCall (Vice Chair of the Co-op Board), Jennifer Traughber (Member of the Co-op Board), and LaChelle Bohner (Events Coordinator) were invited on stage to receive the 2023 Distinguished Service Award for Valley Wide Cooperative. The Idaho FFA State President, Hallee Bohman, shook their hands as the bio was read, and they accepted the award.
This award wouldn’t have been possible without the nomination from the American Falls FFA chapter. Our appreciation goes out to these students and teachers for their considerate thoughts.
Arco Area Manager, Bryan Miller, received his Honorary State Degree for his unwavering service and dedication to agriculture. This is his 24th season as a Certified Crop Advisor, as he began working for the Co-op in 2000. A few years ago, he consulted a project by the North Fremont FFA chapter to replace a weedy field with 11 acres of alfalfa.
Valley Wide Cooperative also served as the Session Two sponsor for the convention, which was indicated by a message from Austin Sears, Nutritional & Feed Sales Manager. Sears used the FFA Creed in his speech to tie in the values Valley Wide represents with FFA and their values.
“I BELIEVE in less dependence on begging and more power in bargaining; in the life abundant and enough honest wealth to help make it so–for others as well as myself; in less need for charity and more of it when needed…We take pride in serving those within our communities. To date we have donated more than a million dollars in forms of scholarships, grants, and donations.” – Austin Sears
Spreading the Word
Valley Wide representatives held two workshops to give insight about what the Co-op does, along with displaying an informational booth at the Career Fair. Lane Langford, from the ag division, Mike Duel, from the energy division, and Pete Jones from the feed division were the three representatives there to highlight each component of the co-op.
The first workshop, put on by Regional Ag Manager Matt Bingham, emphasized the evolution of agriculture and the new technology companies have introduced in today’s farming. Sears presented the second workshop and informed students about recent problems and solutions in today’s feed and livestock industry.
Valley Wide is passionate about helping cultivate and strengthen the next generation of farmers in organizations such as FFA.
