FFA members develop outstanding projects to receive Star honors

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Stars Over Illinois announcement of the top four FFA members in the state was just one of numerous highlights of the 96th Illinois FFA State Convention held in the state’s capital city.

Illinois FFA members honored during the presentation include: Star Farmer Drew Mickey, Star in Agribusiness Ty Robinson, Star in Agricultural Placement Waylon Paulek and Star in Agriscience Olivia Shike.

Star Farmer

Two members of the Taylorville FFA Chapter were selected as Stars, including Star Farmer Drew Mickey.

“My brother was the Illinois Star Farmer in 2020, so to be able to do this four years later means a lot to my family,” he said. “This was my goal since my freshman year and it’s a great honor.”

The son of Jon and Carla Mickey has both crop and livestock projects.

“I show pigs at the local, state and national level,” he said. “I raise performance Angus cattle that I market to commercial producers across the Midwest.”

The fifth-generation farmer also raises corn, soybeans and wheat on his family farm.

Mickey has grown both his livestock and crop projects, starting with five Angus cattle and increasing his herd to 30 head this past year. He began with 15 acres of crops and last year he grew crops on a total of 300 acres.

This fall, Mickey will attend Kansas State University to study animal science.

“I’d like to maintain my registered Angus cow herd after college,” he said. “I’ve also thought about a career in the meat science industry.”

Star In Agricultural Placement

Waylon Paulek is the second member of the Taylorville FFA Chapter to receive a Star honor.

“This is very exciting — with two of us from our chapter, that shows how hard our ag teachers work and I appreciate everything they put into this,” he said about his advisers, Sue Schafer, Megan Beckmier and Charley Dammerman.

Paulek works at three different farms for FFA projects.

“At Pistorius Farms, I started off with filling fuel tanks and basic machinery operation and now I manage a three-man tillage crew, work ground and run the grain cart in the fall,” said the son of Craig and Katie Paulek.

“Four Corners Farms is a progressive cattle operation and I show cattle across the U.S.,” he said. “For Myers Show Cattle, I do daily activities that include feeding, checking pastures, clipping calves and processing calves during the calving season.”

Paulek will attend Lake Land College this fall to pursue a degree in ag business and he will also be a member of the livestock judging team.

Star In Agribusiness

Ty Robison owns and operates Stars and Stripes Lawn Care, a business he started during his sophomore year.

“This feels good that all my hard work paid off,” he said about receiving the Star award. “I’ve been shooting for this goal since I was a sophomore.”

Robison started with just a few yards and has expanded into also doing landscaping.

“I got more into yard beautifications, water solutions and excavating to reroute waterways, while mowing, too,” said the son of Jeff and Allison Robison.

“I used the mowing portion of the business to fund the bigger projects I was expanding into like tree removal for the landscaping portion,” the Goreville FFA member said. “The mowing also helped to fund the employee I hired.”

Robison will be starting his union plumber position on July 1 and he is continuing his lawn care business.

“I just hired another person so I will continue to manage that business,” said the FFA member, who is advised by Jeff Robison.

Star In Agriscience

Olivia Shike has grown up around research her entire life.

“My dad is a professor of animal science at the University of Illinois and he comes home and talks about his research projects,” the Unity-Tolono FFA member said.

“To me, the definition of growing up was getting to do one of my own,” said the daughter of Daniel and Jennifer Shike. “I did a research project as a freshman and ever since then I was hooked and realized this is something I’m passionate about.”

Advised by Rich McCabe, Shike has completed three research projects. The first project studied the effect of an injectable trace mineral on the conception rates of artificially inseminated females and embryo transfer recipients.

“For my second project, I studied Generation Z meat preferences by sending out a survey to junior high and high school students in Illinois,” Shike said. “I received their answers on what kind of food labels and food claims are most important to them when they make a meat selection.”

Her third project was a survey about leadership where she studied the impact of experiences of leadership capacity on adults in the agriculture industry.

“I was able to identify the five best experiences that had the most impact to have success in the agricultural industry,” she said.

Shike will attend Black Hawk College this fall as a member of the livestock judging team and then plans to transfer to a university to complete a degree in ag business and policy.

“I want to pursue a career where I can advocate for agriculture and help bridge the gap between producers and consumers,” she said.