Six Wisconsin FFA alumni are attending the 2025 New Century Farmer Conference, July 20-24, in Indianapolis.
In total, 50 FFA alums from 22 states will advance their skills while learning about agriculture from several experts. Nearly a third of the participants are first-generation producers. The majority of them are interested in farm ownership or entrepreneurship as potential career paths.
As part of the conference, participants will visit two local farms – Flanders A-Maizing Grain and Sheller Family Farms, both of which are in Noblesville. Flanders A-Maizing Grain is run by FFA alum Jim Flanders, who has also created other ag-related spin-offs, such as Simply from Scratch, a farm-to-table business which features dairy, produce, and home-baked items. They incorporate offerings from other local farmers to provide products they don’t make on their own. The Flanders family looks forward to sharing their entrepreneurial journey with FFA students when they visit in July.
Students at this year’s New Century Farmer Conference will also travel the state to visit Corteva Agriscience, CNH Industrial, Reynolds Farm Equipment, and Beck’s Hybrids to learn from the experts at each of these businesses.
Those attending the conference from Wisconsin this year include:
- Victoria Havlik
- John Rambatt
- Bekka Shemak
- Allis Teska
- Jescey Thompson
- Brooke Wittrock
