Paul's Texas Ag Awareness Tour

Texas Agricultural Awareness Tour!

They say that everything is bigger in Texas, and this week we sure saw a big state and had us a big time. We started off the week in Amarillo, Texas. Here we had dinner at the legendary Big Texan and were joined by some great supporters of agricultural education and FFA in Texas.
The next day we went over to Cal Farley’s Boys’ Ranch where we toured the school that many successful FFA members have came from, and we also joined the school for Sunday services. It was neat to see such a great community of students coming together. That night we spent time with members at Texas Tech University and had lots of fun.

Monday morning we toured Texas Tech University, where Laila and Riley both attend. They showed us around and we learned all about the traditions of Texas Tech. What a great place! We continued on from there to meet with the staff at CEV Multimedia. They are leaders in curriculum development and the owner Mr. Gordon Davis is one of the biggest supporters of FFA around. We then had quite a drive to Ben Richey’s Boys’ Ranch where we met up with lots of FFA members from around the area.

The next day was filled with some wonderful meetings at Texas Farm Bureau and we even met the Commissioner of Agriculture, Mr. Todd Staples. We learned more about prevalent agricultural issues and were challenged to encourage more members to spread the news about agriculture. The next morning we toured the capital and met the Commissioner of Education and the Governor of Texas. We thanked both for their support, and encouraged them to continue to do so in the future. Driving continued even more and we had a meeting with the staff of the San Antonio Livestock Exhibition. After the meeting we went down to south Texas for a night I will never forget. We stopped at Mr. Carlos Guerra’s who is a longtime friend of the FFA. Then, we continued on to the South Texas Ag Roundup and just spent time with some incredible FFA members. These students were extremely talented and I hope all of them will reach for the goals they have and never let anyone stop them.

The next day was filled with a trip to the King Ranch. This is the largest privately owned ranch in the United States and it is a beautiful site to see. I loved spending time on the ranch and getting to see it. The next day was spent at Mahindra tractors for a morning visit. We then started towards the highlight of the trip for me. My teammates and I got to spend the evening and night with one of the greatest supporters in the history of FFA. Mr. Dick Walrath gives Texas FFA seventy one 10,000 scholarships every year. He also does the same for 4-H. This is a man who truly has a heart the size of Texas.

The last day was spent at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Thanks to the National FFA Foundation and especially Mrs. Brubeck and Mr. Alejandro from Texas for making this a week I know that I will never forget. The fruits of this week will pay off for months and years to come! Thanks!