Student from Merced County named finalist for nation’s top FFA award
Golden Valley Future Farmers of America member Josh Heupel was recently named a finalist for one of the top awards in the nation.
Heupel is an American Star Farmer finalist, which highlights the top agricultural production project in the country. He’s one of four candidates in the running for the honor.
He graduated from Golden Valley in 2019 and is currently a sophomore at Fresno State. Heupel was a National Proficiency winner in 2020.
A panel of judges will interview the finalists and select one winner from each award category for the 94th National FFA Convention and Expo, which will be held in Indianapolis this fall. The winner of the American Star Farmer award will be named at the convention.
“The American Star Farmer award is the highest recognition an FFA member can win,” said Golden Valley FFA advisor Cody Jacobsen. “To put it into perspective, the FFA organization has over 760,000 members across the country and Josh is one of the top four members of that group.”
Golden Valley was named the top FFA program in the state this spring.
The other three finalists are Grady Johnson from Holdrege, Neb., Kurt Muggli from Carson, N.D., and Raegan Klaassen, from Hydro, Okla.
“The American Star Awards represent the best of the best among thousands of American FFA Degree recipients,” the FFA stated in a release. “The award recognizes FFA members who have developed outstanding agricultural skills and competencies by completing a supervised agricultural experience(SAE) program.”
Jacobsen said over the years Huepel has dedicated many hours with his family in putting together one of the nation’s best projects within FFA.
“The success he has had doesn’t surprise me, he was an exceptional student that has always been focused and driven and has always been willing to put the time in to be the best,” Jacobsen said. “Students with projects like his don’t come around often, and in some programs, never come around so it has been fun to watch everything come to fruition and see the success he’s been able to achieve.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
