COOKEVILLE, TN—Bailey Hatmaker of the Jefferson County Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapter is Tennessee FFA’s Star in Agribusiness. The Star in Agribusiness is awarded to the top student who best demonstrates knowledge and skill through a non-production entrepreneurial agribusiness project. Her Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) is in Agribusiness Systems. The Star in Agribusiness is sponsored by Tennessee Farmers Cooperative.
Bailey has a significant role within Van Wingerdenn International, the grower and supplier of Nature's Heritage plants and flowers. At age 17, she was hired alongside her mother where she was given the opportunity to learn business management practices. Her job allows her to manage the distribution of plants in the Home Depot stores within the supplier’s territory. She also travels to stores and performs daily maintenance for the supplied plants and flowers.
Bailey is the daughter of Soranya Hatmaker of Dandridge. Bailey plans on attending Walter State Community College in the fall majoring in Plant Science with plans to eventually complete a Bachelor’s Degree, becoming a plant geneticist in the agricultural industry.
For her achievement, Bailey 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 $1,000 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.
Bailey was named the Tennessee FFA Star in Agribusiness in March at the Tennessee FFA State Convention in Gatlinburg. Having received her State FFA Degree, Bailey is now eligible to earn her American FFA Degree and represent Tennessee in the competition to become the American Star in Agribusiness. Likewise, Tennessee will have a Star Farmer, Star in Agricultural Placement and Star in Agriscience candidate.
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: Bailey Hatmaker, Tennessee Future Farmers of America Star in Agribusiness, pictured just before the Star Tour Kick Off at FFA Camp Clements in Doyle.)