ARCANUM – Arcanum Miami Valley Career Technology Center FFA members recently competed in the Ohio FFA grain merchandising contest.
The purpose of the grain merchandising contest is to stimulate interest in the area of grain merchandising and to make students aware of the complex decision-making process associated with merchandising agricultural products.
Arcanum MVCTC FFA members Alex Weiss, Jacob Osswald, Kaylee Wilcox, Samantha McAllister, Cole Spitler, Zachary Smith and Anna Loxley completed the online test portion of the contest on April 11. During the online test students were given 50 general knowledge questions about grain merchandising and five problem solving questions. The questions included puts, calls, basis and hedging.
The team finished in the top 10 in the state and qualified for the state finals on April 28. Weiss, Osswald, Wilcox and McAllister traveled to The Ohio State University where they completed a scenario that consisted of the students being employed as the primary grain originator and merchant for a leading regional grain firm.
Their job description in the scenario was to originate grain from producers, conduct producer meetings and market grain to capture the most possible profit. They were give 30 minutes to prepare, 10 minutes to present and five minutes for questions from the judges.
At the end of the contest the team from Arcanum was fifth in the state with Alex Weiss finishing as the fourth place individual.
Janelle Brinksneader coached the team.
