Macomb, Bushnell, West Prairie FFA Honored at State Convention Macomb, Bushnell, West Prairie high school FFA organizations were recently honored 98th annual Illinois State FFA Convention, “Sparking Your Future.”
American FFA Degree: Masyn Riggins of Macomb was recognized for earning the highest degree achievable in the National FFA Organization. The 2026 American FFA Degrees will be officially conferred at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis in October and recognizes the most dedicated members in the country who demonstrated excellence with their supervised agricultural experience, provided outstanding leadership and community service and earned scholastic achievement throughout their FFA career.
Illinois State FFA Degree: Delaney Bartlow, Mullen Butcher, William Krohe, and Kade Ruebush of Macomb; Reagan McKim and Caroline Spangler of Bushnell; and Janell Heaton, Aiden Percy and Kenadie Webster of West Prairie. Recipients earing the Illinois Statet FFA Degree meet all requirements including productive financial investments and earnings in a supervised agricultural experience and FFA participation, leadership and academic excellence. The State FFA Degree is the highest achievement an FFA member can achieve in Illinois; less than two percent of members statewide earn this prestigious recognition.
Golden Owl Award District 3 Finalist: Steve Sargeant of Bushnell was recognized as District 3’s 2026 Golden Owl outstanding agricultural educator finalist. The five district finalists will interview for the “2026 Illinois Ag Educator of the Year” statewide Golden Owl Award during the Illinois Association of Vocational Agriculture Teachers conference later this month. This year, 486 Golden Owl nominations for 133 different Illinois teachers were received.
Supporter: The Macomb FFA Alumni Association was recognized for making a gift of at least $3,000 to the Illinois Foundation FFA during the annual fundraising campaign which designates them as a Three Star Foundation Sponsor.
Foundation $3,000 Club Award: The Macomb FFA chapter was recognized for coordinating a local campaign for the Illinois Foundation FFA which raised at least $3,000.
Livestock Judging (non-reasons) Career Development Event High Individual: Noah Hoge of Macomb was recognized as the top individual participant in the state Livestock Evaluation CDE which requires team members to evaluate and rank breeding and market livestock based on current industry desired traits and performance data. Teams evaluate cattle, swine, sheep and goats.
Agriscience Power, Structural & Technical Systems Division Winner: Eli Ferguson and Aiden Denk of Bushnell were recognized as top participants in one of the six categories of the Illinois FFA Agriscience Fair with a research project titled, “How Gear Ratios Affect Torque.” Students gain real-world, hands-on experiences in agricultural enterprises and use scientific principles and emerging technologies to solve complex problems related to agriculture, food, and natural resources.
Goat Production State Proficiency Winner: Harper Hess was selected as the 2026 State FFA Proficiency Winner in Goat Production. Kadie is the daughter of Marcus and Shanna Hess. She is a member of the Bushnell-Prairie City FFA Chapter, advised by Renee Lock and Steve Sargeant. Harper’s Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) focuses on Boer goat production. She uses artificial insemination and embryo transfer to improve the herd’s genetics and produce high-quality animals for sale. She also exhibits market goats at the local, state, and national levels.
Information Technology State Supervised Occupational Experience Award: Brody Cordell of West Prairie was selected as the 2026 State FFA Supervised Occupational Experience (SOE) Award Winner in Information Technology. For his SOE, Brody is an install and repair technician for McDonough Telephone Cooperative, where he has gained hands-on, industry-based experience and developed leadership and recordkeeping skills.
