Fairfield FFA serves breakfast Friday

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield High School’s FFA Chapter cooked breakfast for the community Friday morning, Feb. 24.

The breakfast was served in the ag room at the high school and featured pancakes, eggs, and sausage. Fairfield FFA President Briana Steele said the breakfast raises funds for the club, but it’s mostly a way for FFA to say “thank you” to its supporters in the county. The students were responsible for cooking all the cook, and that meant getting to school early, especially since serving began at 6 a.m.

Steele got up at 4 a.m. that day, and was at the high school by 5 a.m.

“The breakfast was slow at first, but a lot of people came toward the end,” Steele said.

FFA Vice President Maddi Woodburn remarked, “I woke up at 4:30 today, and I left the house at 4:45.”

Steele said the breakfast is always free, but the club puts out cups for donations, since people often want to give them money.

Steele and Woodburn are both juniors, and they hope to continue in their respective roles next year, though they won’t know for certain until the FFA holds officer elections later this spring. Steele said she joined FFA because she liked the adviser, and she enjoys ag classes.

“I live on a farm, so I’m always around agriculture,” Steele said. “It was a no-brainer for me.”

Woodburn said she joined FFA for much the same reasons, such as her interest in ag classes. Like Steele, she lives on a farm, but noted that even most FFA members don’t. Steele estimated that perhaps 25 percent of FFA members live on farms.

“That’s really cool because FFA is not just for farming,” Steele said. “You can go into ag business. Even if you work in a bank, you still work in ag-related things like making loans for a tractor. You can go into horticulture, which is not necessarily farming, but it’s part of ag.”

Steele’s family raises 150 head of cattle and some chickens, and that means she has plenty of farm chores to do at home.

“It can range from carrying water buckets, to hauling manure, to pulling feeder wagons or grinding hay,” she said.

Woodburn said her family raises 20 cows, along with pigs and sheep that she shows at the county fair.

“We have to feed cows, hay cows and water cows,” she said. “It’s pretty basic.”

Woodburn said she anticipates having a career in agriculture because she likes animals and she likes being outdoors.

“I’d like to be a large animal veterinarian, but right now I’m thinking of being maybe just a vet-tech for a couple of years to see if I like it,” she said.

Steele said she plans to study elementary education after high school, but she also wants a career in ag.

“I’m going to farm on the family farm still,” she said. “I’ll make time to do both.”

Steele said Fairfield’s FFA Chapter has between 20-30 members. She has tried to recruit more of her friends to join, too.

“A lot of them are city kids who don’t want anything to do with it,” Steele said.

Woodburn said she’s had a fun time in FFA going on trips to district competitions for things like soils judging, and attending the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.

“It’s fun to make friends who enjoy doing the same things you enjoy doing,” Woodburn said.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com