RELEASE DATE CONTACT: Kent Boggs
May 3, 2017 405-743-5498
Laverne FFA Member Earns Beef Production Entrepreneurship State Proficiency Award
By Abigail Arthaud, Media Intern
OKLAHOMA CITY – Lane Fanning of the Laverne FFA Chapter earned first-place honors in the 2017 Oklahoma FFA Beef Production Entrepreneurship Proficiency Award area during the 91st Oklahoma FFA Convention May 3.
Cade Jenlink of the Timberlake FFA Chapter and Andrew Wright of the Afton FFA Chapter earned second- and third-place honors, respectively.
Fanning said he has been helping with his family’s cattle-stocker business since grade school. He said that as he grew older, his responsibilities increased, and now he owns several hundred cattle.
Fanning said he has donated a portion of the beef he produces to help feed families in need through The Beef Project, a local non-profit of which he is a co-chairman.
“It is without a doubt the most humbling and fulfilling experience of my beef enterprise,” Fanning said.
Fanning plans to attend Oklahoma State University and pursue a career in marketing and economics.
The beef production entrepreneurship proficiency award is designed to recognize students who use the best management practices available to produce and market beef more efficiently.
The 19-year-old Laverne FFA member is the daughter of Tom and Michele Fanning. His agricultural education instructors and FFA advisers are Sandi Kolbe and Jim Culp.
This award is sponsored at the state level by the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and Durham Hereford Ranch. Steve and Merrie Lynn Vaughan provide a $1,000 state winner scholarship. The national sponsors are Bayer and Rabo AgriFinance.
FFA is an integral part of the Agricultural Education division in the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education system. With more than 27,000 members and 357 chapters, the Oklahoma FFA Association is the fourth-largest state FFA association. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. To learn more about the Oklahoma FFA, visit okffa.org.
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Lane Fanning (second from left) of the Laverne FFA Chapter captured first-place honors in the 2017 Oklahoma FFA Beef Production Entrepreneurship State Proficiency Award area. Tiffani Pruitt (right) of the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association congratulates Fanning as well as Cade Jenlink (third from left) of the Timberlake FFA Chapter and Andrew Wright of the Afton FFA Chapter, who received second and third place, respectively.
This award is sponsored at the state level by the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association and Durham Hereford Ranch. Steve and Merrie Lynn Vaughan provide a $1,000 state winner scholarship. The national sponsors are Bayer and Rabo AgriFinance. The awards were presented during the 91st Oklahoma FFA Convention in Oklahoma City May 3.