Eldorado FFA member finalist for the American Star in Agribusiness award

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Ely Boulds started his FFA project based on the needs of farmers in his local area.

“Through FFA and 4-H, I got some connections with farmers and we got talking about their needs for lime spreading,” said Ely Boulds, a member of the Eldorado FFA Chapter. “After doing some research with local co-ops and farmers I decided we could use a new lime spreading company in the area.”

The development of his FFA project into a business has resulted in Boulds selection as one of four finalists for the American Star in Agribusiness award.

“I custom spread lime, fertilizer and gypsum in southern Illinois and southern Indiana,” he said. “I flat rate spread and use variable rate technology, too.”

Over the past five years, Boulds said, he has spread materials for a significant number of customers.

“I started with one TerraGator and a ‘70s model loader,” he said. “I have added another TerraGator and loader that is bigger and newer to be more efficient.”

Receiving the news that he was one of the national star finalists was totally unexpected, said the son of Brady and Teresa Boulds.

“It felt awesome,” he said. “I was happy just to get to the state level — I never thought I’d make it this far.”

As an Eldorado FFA member, Boulds held several chapter offices, including president, secretary and junior vice president, as well as Section 25 secretary.

Boulds competed in many FFA contests to represent his chapter, while being advised by Bill Kittinger, Erica James Harris and Kaleb Irwin.

“My favorites were the Computer Contest and Parliamentary Procedure,” Boulds said.

“For the computer contest we would run Word, Excel and Access and use the functions of the programs,” he said. “For example, you might have to find a tractor in a certain price range. I keep all my records for my business on these programs, so the contest turned out to be a big help for me.”

Since the National FFA Convention is switched to a virtual event this year due to the impact of the pandemic, Boulds has already completed an interview with the judges who will select the American Star in Agribusiness.

“Normally I would have done that interview in person at the convention,” he said. “But we did it on Zoom this year, which was different, for sure.”

The Star winners will be announced during the evening session of the convention on Oct. 28.

“All the finalists will be on Zoom during that session, so FFA members will see the real response to the news,” Boulds said.

Currently, Boulds is in his second year of studying agricultural business at Southeastern Illinois College.

“I’d like to grow my business to where there are two to three TerraGators running at the same time,” he said. “I’d also like to add fertilizer spreading in the spring and also look into custom spraying.”

For more information about the 93rd National FFA Convention and Expo, go to www.ffa.org.