COOKEVILLE, TN—Dylan Hunt of the McNairy Central Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter is Tennessee FFA’s 2016 Star Greenhand. The Star Greenhand is awarded to the top student who best demonstrates superior FFA involvement, introductory Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) work and a hard work ethic during the first year of FFA membership. His SAE project is Diversified Crop Production. The Star Greenhand Award is sponsored by the CHS Foundation.
Dylan works on his family’s twenty-five hundred acre farm alongside his father and brother. The family farm consists of two hundred head of commercial cattle, four hundred and ten acres of pasture and Bermuda grass, and two thousand acres of row crops. Dylan’s SAE focuses on owning an operation similar to that of his family’s. He owns a herd of registered charlotte cattle, and his row crop operation consists of sixteen acres of corn and sixty-five acres of soybeans.
Dylan is the son of Brad and Jennifer Hunt of Stantonville. Dylan is a rising high school sophomore and plans on attending the University of Tennessee at Knoxville upon graduation. He plans to major in agribusiness with the hopes of returning to the family farm and building a career in agricultural sales.
For his achievement, Dylan was honored last week during the Second Annual Tennessee FFA Star Tour presented by Farm Credit Mid-America. The trip was centered on Tennessee agriculture; students got a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit agribusinesses, meet key industry leaders and showcase their superior projects.
The tour began in Doyle at Camp Clements: Tennessee FFA Leadership Training Camp where Farm Credit Mid-America presented each of the Stars with scholarships. The tour included visits to First Farmers and Merchants Bank in Columbia, the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, and Hatcher Family Dairy in College Grove, Batey Farms in Murfreesboro, Warren County FFA, and the farm of Joe Moore, former American Star Farmer in Granville. The Stars also visited Wampler’s Farm Sausage, met with Farm Credit Mid-America in Dandridge, visited the Appalachian Electric Cooperative, and was hosted by the Daniel Boone FFA chapter for dinner in East Tennessee. The tour ended with a day spent at Dollywood.
FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. Nationally, there are 629,367 FFA members, aged 12-21. The Tennessee FFA Association is comprised of 14,084 members from 214 high school chapters, 7 middle school chapters, and 8 collegiate chapters across the state of Tennessee.
(Photo caption: Dylan Hunt, Tennessee Future Farmers of America Star Greenhand, is pictured just before the Star Tour Kick Off at FFA Camp Clements.)