FFA students perform well

Team takes home a first place in agri-mechanics
Mikey Sawyer, Riley Syra and Guy Wallace pose with Dolores High School agriculture teacher Jake Gordanier after participating in an agriculture mechanics competition.

A few students from the Dolores Agriculture Program went to Fruita, Colo., March 11-12 to compete in Agricultural Career Development Event competitions.

Dolores High School took an agri-business and an ag mechanics team. The agri-business team of Tyler Nance, Tel Hamilton and Autumn Seeber placed second overall, and Seeber placed second individually. The business competition consists of calculating income, expenses, current and non-current assets and liabilities, income, taxes and much more.

The agri-mechanics team of Mikey Sawyer, Guy Wallace and Riley Sira placed first overall. Sawyer placing first individually, and Wallace placed second.

The agri-mechanics competition consisted of several tasks from welding to setting up a sprinkler system. For welding, competitors had to complete two mig welds and two arc welds, use a cutting torch and be proficient in PVC and copper plumbing, tool identification, tractor identification, and in calculating gallons per acre of a sprayer, as well as set up a sprinkler system and diagnose why a sprinkler system didn't work. Other tasks include using measuring devices to find measurements of miscellaneous items, create a wheel for a hub, and complete a multiple choice test that covers an array of different topics related to agriculture.

The Dolores team is preparing for the Colorado State FFA CDE competition in May.