Wagner Community School senior, Carter Smejkal has been competing in the Farm & Agribusiness Management (also known as Ag Business) competition of the FFA Career Development Events (CDE) for the past three years. Throughout this season’s competitions, Carter has exceled in Ag Business, receiving two first places (in Tri-Valley and Lennox) and a third place at the qualifying meet in Parkston. His third-place finish qualified Carter for the State FFA CDE competition. The South Dakota State FFA Convention was held April 3rd through the 5th in Brookings.

What exactly is Ag Business? According to Carter it is almost everything that is involved with the business of farming. The Ag Business CDE helps students learn and understand business skills as well as apply economic principles to agricultural businesses. In order to effectively compete in this category, a student must show that he or she can analyze information given to him or her about business management information; apply economic principals; business management concepts; and evaluate business management decisions. The competition consists of two different exams which include general knowledge for the first exam, and finances and practical application problems to solve in the second part. Definitions of different terms used in Ag business, sound decision making based on given scenarios/information, and calculating different financials to make the best decisions are all a part of the exams. When asked what the most challenging aspect of the Ag Business CDE is for Carter, he said that it would definitely be the problem-solving portion.

Carter first chose the Ag Business CDE under the guidance of his sister, who thought that he would be very good at this particular topic, which helped foster Carter’s interest in the event. What Carter enjoys about the event is that it is the first competition so the wait with anticipation that comes with competing is kept to a minimum. In order to be better prepared for his event, Carter studies days leading up to the event as well as making sure to reread the material on the way to the competition. He has sharpened his skills in this CDE by continuing to study during the course of the past three years and being 100% dedicated to this particular CDE. Carter’s skill with money as well as his ability to retain knowledge have also helped him be successful. He has found that by checking the website with the posted question results, he can learn the correct answers to questions that he was not sure of or that were incorrect from the previous exam.

Even though Carter has the pair of wins under his belt, he has no plans to become complacent or overconfident. While his success has have helped Carter grow his confidence in the event, he knows that he needs to continue to focus on studying the material in order to do well at the state competition. Not only was his sister the inspiration behind participating in the Ag Business competition, but she is also the main reason that Carter first became involved in FFA. The knowledge that Carter has acquired over the years while studying and learning the skills needed to be competitive in this particular event will also serve him well in the next chapter of his life. After graduation, Carter plans to attend South Dakota State University to major in Business and Marketing, largely due to the years of competition fostering a love for this particular area of agriculture. Not only will he take with him the skills learned from the Ag Business competition, but he will also take the skills of leadership, sociability, and study skills in addition to dedication from his time participating in FFA.