Othello FFA members encouraged to be all they can be at annual awards banquet

No matter what you do in life, you must be passionate about it. That’s the message guest speaker Kirk Jungers had for the Othello High School FFA members at the annual awards banquet Thursday, May 17.

Junkers, who was also the guest speaker at the Washington State Ag Educators Conference in Moses Lake last year, is a 1982 graduate of OHS, a former FFA member, and the owner of Firstline Seed Inc. in Moses Lake.

After graduating from high school Jungers admittedly told his captive audience he wasn’t reel keen making his mark in the Ag business.

“Two days after I graduated, my dad who was the superintendent of the school district at the time, took me to Spokane and put me on an Amtrak train. When I asked him where I was going, he said, “ To the family farm.’” Sixty days later I called him and told him I was ready to go to college.”

A month later Jungers enrolled at Spokane Community College.

“I didn’t do well my first year because I mainly just paid attention to my key classes,” he said. “But I later learned that wasn’t the way to go about getting a well rounded education. I did, however, pay attention to the employment board and noticed an opening for four students to join the Soil Conservation Service. I got an interview that was conducted at the Spokane County Court House and ended up being one of the four selected out of 400 kids that applied.”

Jungers spent the next two summers conducting an irrigation study in Walla Walla and Moses Lake.

“During my internship, I applied for a job in Saudi, Arabia, but didn’t tell my parents about it. I ended up spending 13 months there. It was a great learning opportunity,” Jungers said. “Having worked for the Hinrichs Company in Pullman and being exposed to the irrigated agricultural region of the Columbia Basin where 300 different crops were being raised, I discovered my passion. So when I returned home, I enrolled at Columbia Basin College. I never missed a class — finished with a 3.8 GPA – got my Class A Consultants License and spent the next five years in the Boardman-Hermiston area working at larger irrigated farms and fell in love growing potatoes, onions, carrots and a variety of other crops.”

In 2002, Jungers purchased the Firstline Seed Company and has been running it passionately ever since.

He wrapped up his message to FFA members by expressing the importance of a good education.

“No matter what career you decide to pursue, you must get a good education. Take advantage of your teachers, your mentors, your advisors and most of all your acquaintances,” Jungers said. “I’ve been around the world several times and have met some amazing people that have opened different doors for me.”

He ended his address by reiterating his initial thoughts.

“Remember to be passionate in everything you do and don’t be afraid to take calculated risks. When I bought my business, my son was 2 years-old, my wife had a fulltime job, but I hadn’t had a paycheck in 15 months. But the risk was worth the reward,” Jungers said. “I love being self-employed and owning my own business. Ag might not be the thing for you, but there are plenty of opportunities living in one of the top Ag regions in the US. There are unlimited companies looking for eager young people like you and there are a variety of things you can do. You could work in a laboratory and invent the net plant we raise. You could be in seed sales like I am. You could be a plant manager, an Ag teacher or a fertilizer/chemical rep. Heck the industry is even using drones to monitor their crops these days.”

The evening culminated with an awards presentation and the naming of the incoming officers.

The FFA group earned an eighth place finish in the State Horse Judging event, was 13th out of 33 groups that participated in the State Trap Shooting competition, placed 17th our of 34 entrants in the State Potato Judging, and took the 22nd spot out of 39 in State Livestock Judging. Sam and Patrick Azevedo placed first in the Dairy Judging competition.

Logan Hollenbeck was named the Othello FFA Star Greenhand, and Alyson Shade earned the OHS FFA Star Chapter Farmer Degree. The incoming officers are Alyson Shade, president, Logan Hollenbeck, vice president 1, Emily Carlson vice president 2, Morgan Weber, secretary, Mark Weber, treasurer, Sarah Wilson, reporter, Rojilio Cortez, sentinel, and Antonio Gonzalez, historian.