The Jessamine County FFA Agricultural Issues team had the opportunity to compete at the 91st annual National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. The team members are Jessica Doolin, Ashley Smith, Haley Searcy, Kyley Shinall, Addie White, Kiersten Hoskins, and Jessamine County FFA Advisor Ashley Wagoner. Students on the team competed in June during the Kentucky FFA State Convention where they won first place overall. This allowed the group to advance to the national competition which took place Oct. 25-26.  In preparation for this competition, students carefully selected, researched and developed a presentation on a current issue facing the agricultural community: “Synthetic Meat: What Would You Choose to Eat?” (Photo submitted)

Kyley Shinall, an Ag Issues team member, said “I wasn’t really familiar with synthetic meat until we discovered our topic. This product could actually impact the agricultural industry in a bad way by putting beef cattle farmers out of a job. It’s scary to think about, but I’m glad that we know this information, so we can make other people more aware of it.”

Students had the chance to cultivate their characters as they shared their presentations with multiple audiences as well as judges.