COLUMBIA BASIN — Spring is a busy time for many local Future Farmers of America chapters, summer a little less so. But 4-H and FFA participants spend part of their summers working on their projects for the fair, wherever that fair is and however many fairs they attend.

Quincy High School FFA co-advisor Rod Cool listed a flurry of FFA activities in April and May, starting with district contests that test skills like horse judging. They are scheduled for late April. Many FFA chapters in eastern Washington, QHS among them, earn money for chapter activities and give people a kickstart for their gardens with early spring plant sales, usually in late April and early May.

The annual FFA state convention is scheduled for May 10 through 13 in Kennewick. Along with general sessions and awards, there are a plethora of contests. Participants qualify for state competition by advancing through regional rounds.

Some contests focus on the nuts and bolts of agriculture, while others test skills in things like public speaking. Medical Lake High School advisor Jennie Wagner said the contests provide both challenges and opportunities, and she cited her agriculture issues team as an example.

“They pick a pertinent issue in agriculture in their state, and then they have to give a 15-minute presentation on it, and they have to give a balanced viewpoint. They have to give a pro side and a con side,” Wagner said.

The agriculture issues team also must present its program to groups outside of school or FFA. Wagner said her team spoke to representatives of a regional utility, among others.

“What other club can a kid be in that they get that kind of experience?” she said.

A lot of the summer activity for both FFA and 4-H participants is preparing their entries for the fair, whatever fair it happens to be. Young people will have regular check-ins with the 4-H leader or FFA advisor, Wagner said.

“The Washington FFA Foundation puts on what’s called a Washington Ag Leadership Experience,” she said. “Last year I took my kids - it was in Wenatchee, for three or four days. You go and you tour farms and you learn about agriculture in that area. They have a panel of industry people that speak to them, and it’s a really great experience for kids.”

The tour allowed her students to learn about parts of the industry that were new to them.

“We went to a couple of orchards. My kids have never been to an orchard,” Wagner said.

Many FFA chapters have land where they raise crops during the summer, including Moses Lake High School. It’s out behind the high school, and had to be moved last summer to provide room for an access road to a newly constructed building. Moving the farm was not, said Moses Lake FFA member Ian Cox, a big deal.

“It wasn’t that far, we just scooted it over a little bit, pretty much,” he said.

When that was done the FFA students planted and maintained the crops.

“We planted corn, planted the pumpkins and got all that stuff set up,” Cox said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].