It’s Official!
The 2025 National Champion FFA Agronomy Team is the Washington County FFA Chapter from Kansas!
WCHS had three team members placing in the top ten individually, the most of all 36 teams and 144 individuals participating. Amber Kolle placed as the 5th High Individual overall with a score of 714, just one point in front of Dawson Strunk with a 713, and 3 points ahead of Jonathan Wright at 711, finishing in 7th place. With all four scores counting, Destyni Christenson contributed 598 points to the team total and placed 27th overall. The national winning team members each received $1000 cash awards to recognize their success in the event.
The National FFA Agronomy Career Development Event (CDE) is a competitive event challenging students to apply knowledge to real-life situations. Agronomy teams develop an oral presentation and a written plan that addresses a scenario of an agronomy situation. The Washington County FFA Team also took top honors in the Team Event as the highest scoring team in the country with a 414 out of a possible 500 points.
This year proved to be one of the closest team finishes in the 25-year history of the competition, with only 21 points separating the top three teams in the event. Washington County posted a score of 3150, Jennings, Louisiana scored 3142, and North Union, Ohio scored 3129. Mr. John Kern, WCHS Advisor, spoke very highly of the level of competition they were facing this year. “With over 12 National Championships between the top three teams in this year’s competition, we knew we would have our hands full. These schools are the best of the best year in and year out, and I am very proud that our students were able to compete at this level with these outstanding programs.”
Originally, the Washington County Team was announced as the 2nd place team, however, a scoring correction was discovered during the review process, realizing that the Soils and Nutrient Management Section was not tabulated correctly. This correction revealed that the Kansas Team’s score was missing an additional 32 points, which propelled the Kansas team total to become the highest scoring team in the nation in this year’s event, and recognized as the 2025 National Champions!
This year’s national competition is sponsored by Corteva Agriscience, Valent U.S.A. LLC, CHS Foundation, Nutrien Ag Solutions, and Beck’s Hybrids.
Can't believe it's already time for Thanksgiving. We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday! Here is the newsletter with info for the next TWO weeks. As always, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out. The HS office will be closed Wednesday 11/26 - Friday 11/28.
See ya in December!
We have had several outstanding district level performances this fall for our competitive events. September Greenhand Highlights include: FFA Greenhand Conference Information Exam - Madison Thompson and Kane Scheer both finished as Top 10 Individuals on the leadership exam with nearly 300 students participating! Additionally, in Greenhand FFA Land Judging, Madison Thompson finished 6th and Kane Scheer placed 8th. Congratulations Madison and Kane!
