American Star Farmer finalist: Mickey grows crops, starts Angus herd

TAYLORVILLE, Ill. — Working toward becoming the American Star Farmer is a goal Tanner Mickey set to achieve when he joined FFA and now he is one of four members who are finalists for this prestigious award.

“I won the state Star Farmer award in 2020 and I set my goal to keep working on my record books,” Mickey said. “This is something I wanted to achieve since I started FFA.”

The American Star awards will be presented on Friday, Nov. 3, during the 96th National FFA Convention and Expo in Indianapolis.

In addition to Mickey, the American Star Farmer finalists are: Daniel Jossund, Ada-Borup-West FFA Chapter in Minnesota; Luke Jennings, Felicity-Franklin FFA Chapter in Ohio; and Callie Welty, Grandview FFA Chapter in Texas.

Learning he was a finalist for the award was very exciting for the Taylorville FFA member.

“It was certainly very unexpected and a pretty shocking moment,” he said.

Living on a small family farm, Mickey has been working on his FFA projects for the past seven years.

“My projects are growing corn, soybeans, wheat and raising Angus cattle,” said the son of Jon and Carla Mickey.

“My first year I started with 14.5 acres over the three crops and eight head of Angus cattle,” he said. “This past year my projects have grown to a total of 560 acres of cropland and 35 head of cattle.”

Mickey is proud of his Angus herd that he started on his own.

“My main focus is selling bulls and I sell some bred heifers each year, as well as some feeder steers,” he said. “I market offspring to cattlemen around the state and I sell at sales such as the Illinois Performance Bull Sale.”

While in high school, Mickey served his chapter as the greenhand president during his sophomore year and president for both his junior and senior years.

He was also involved in various competitive activities, including livestock judging, where he traveled all over the country.

“We had the opportunity to go to Ireland, Scotland and London, which was one of the most memorable experiences during high school,” he said. “It was a two-week trip with my teammates to learn about agriculture in another country.”

Mickey also was involved with public speaking and job interview career development events.

“I feel those are some of the top competitive activities I’ve done in FFA that have really helped shape me into where I am today and gave me confidence I need for my future career,” said the FFA member who is advised by Megan Beckmier, Charles Dammerman and Sue Schafer.

Currently, Mickey is a senior at the University of Illinois, where he is studying agribusiness.

“I look forward to going back to my farming operation,” he said.

Mickey encourages all FFA members to take advantage of every opportunity they have with FFA activities.

“You never know who you might meet that will be a valuable asset to you in the future,” he said. “You might think you don’t have enough time, but it will pay off in the long run.”

FFA is for all students, Mickey said, regardless if they have a farm background.

“I encourage all kids to give it a try,” he said. “Our chapter has over 300 members and only about 20 grew up on a farm and had a farming project.”

Mickey thanked his advisers and the whole Taylorville community for the help, support and sponsorships he has received over the years.

“It takes a lot of people to make these trips and opportunities we’ve had happen,” he said. “I am thankful for a strong FFA program and a strong community that helps the Taylorville FFA chapter have the success that we do.”

The 96th National FFA Convention and Expo will be held Nov. 1-4 at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis. For details, visit https://convention.ffa.org.