(groovy heavy country-rock music) ♪ Hey ♪ Hey ♪ Hey - Welcome to "A Shot of Ag!"

My name is Rob Sharkey.

Agriculture, if you eat well, then you are involved in it.

But what about the future of agriculture?

Well, today we're gonna talk with Chelsey Stotler from Bradford.

How you doing, Chelsey?

- Good.

How are you?

- First of all, for the people in Peoria, can you tell them where Bradford is on Illinois?

- It's, like, 40 minutes north.

It's south of I-80 and between Peoria.

It's, like, that space.

Like, the middle of nowhere.

- If you're on Knoxville going through Peoria, you just keep going.

- You just keep going.

- And eventually, you'll... Well, you gotta make one turn.

- You gotta make one turn.

- But eventually, you'll run into it.

- You'll make it there.

- One blinking stoplight.

- Yeah.

- We can't even get a red, yellow, or green.

Which we don't want either.

- No.

- No.

- No.

- Have you lived there your whole life?

- Yes.

- [Rob] Okay.

And your parents, did they both grow up in Bradford?

- No, my dad grew up in Camp Grove, which is smaller than Bradford.

And my mom grew up in Williamsfield.

- Got ya.

And you are a senior at Stark County High School?

- Yes.

- Which is in Toulon.

- Toulon, Illinois.

- It's getting confusing, isn't it?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

So, how long does it take you to get to school every day?

- 20 or so minutes.

- Aren't you supposed to be there now?

- No.

No, it's okay.

I don't have my first class for a while.

I only have two in-person classes at the high school.

- What?

- 'Cause I'm a senior.

'Cause I take college classes.

So, it's dual credit, is what they call it now.

- So you're only taking two classes at Stark County High School?

- Mm-hmm.

- And then what do you do besides that?

- I take classes at Black Hawk College.

That's, like, 10 minutes from Toulon.

So, I take an in-person class.

I just finished my chemistry class, and then I have a math class that I take so I could get my prereqs out of the way for college.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- So you're rolling into college with, I don't know, roughly how many hours?

- I think, 30 credit hours.

- [Rob] You're kidding me?

- Yeah.

- Holy cow!

Do you know where you're going for college?

- The only place I have applied to is the University of Illinois.

But there's only two programs in the state, and the other one's at Southern, so.

- First of all, don't go to Southern.

- Oh.

Oh.

- Yeah.

That's where I want.

You don't want that.

And Illinois?

(sighs) If you go to U of I, you have to get kind of an attitude about you.

Like, "I'm going to the best school."

And whenever I interview somebody that went to U of I, they generally tell me that within 30 seconds of the interview.

- Wow.

- Yeah.

- I don't think so.

I don't think I'll have that.

I don't have that problem.

Maybe I'll be the odd one out.

- I don't think so.

(Chelsey laughs) I think if you're gonna go to U of I, you have to get that attitude.

- I don't think so.

- Okay.

- We'll agree to disagree, maybe.

(laughs) - You say the only ones that have that program?

- Yeah.

- What program?

- I am majoring in food science.

So, there's only two programs within the state.

- [Rob] ISU doesn't have one?

- [Chelsey] Mm-mm.

- 'Cause they have a pretty good ag school, don't they?

- [Chelsey] Mm-hmm.

- Huh.

Okay.

You are also involved in the Stark County FFA.

- [Chelsey] Mm-hmm.

- So explain this to the people at home.

So you're going to high school, and you're taking ag classes.

- Yes.

- And you're also in FFA.

- [Chelsey] Mm-hmm.

- So what is the difference?

- So an ag class is obviously taught by an ag teacher who's also an advisor.

But you have the choice.

With Illinois, you're automatically enrolled as an FFA member if you're in an ag class.

But you have a choice on whether, you know, you wanna be in FFA, I guess.

If you wanna be active.

So, I mean, it's been actually a huge help because then we don't have to pay for registration fees for all these- - Oh, yeah.

- Kids who actually come in.

- FFA used to stand for Future Farmers of America.

The world has changed.

So, you can't really have that many farmers anymore.

So, what's your thought?

When somebody says, "Hey, what is FFA?"

What do you tell them?

- I tell them that it's an agriculture leadership organization.

- [Rob] Uh-huh.

- It's kind of switched over, you know, like you said, from, like, sole farmers, and it's expanded out into, like, multiple different pathways, is what they call it, and career pathways.

And it's expanded out to mechanics and, like, the science side of it.

And then it also does focus straight in on, you know, farming, and it's broadened out into competitions and stuff like that.

- So, why'd you get involved in something that's ag-related?

- So, obviously, I grew up in a small town.

But my older brother was in FFA when I came to school.

And I found that FFA was kind of a place... High school isn't great.

It's not great when you first start out as a freshman, but FFA kind of, like, gave you that spot where you could, you know, if you needed to retreat and you needed to ask for help, that's where you can have it, especially at the high school.

And it's just kind of a spot for people to grow as people and, like, be yourself, and you're accepted as that.

And agriculture accepts anybody because, hey, we need more jobs and we need more people.

- Mm-hmm.

So, when you talk about, like, accepting and that, are you talking like...

I don't know.

Like if you're gonna be on the football team, you have to be this type of person?

You're saying FFA; it's anybody.

- They'll take anybody.

- Anybody in the school can come in.

- Yep.

- Okay.

And I suppose, when you're starting as a freshman, everything's new.

- Yeah.

- Because where'd you go to grade school?

- So, I went to Bradford for grade school and junior high.

So I was coming into the high school, as, like, I didn't know any of these people.

And, like, it's almost like you move.

Like, to compare it as if you move somewhere else to go to high school.

- That has to be intimidating walking that first day.

I don't know, did you know a handful of people?

- Yeah, you know a handful of people.

Like, you know the names and maybe you know the faces, but you don't know how they are as people.

And I didn't know where my first class was of the day when I got there.

- Were you late?

- I was late.

- Did you get a tardy?

- I was late to my first ag class as a freshman.

(Rob chuckles) - So Bradford, it's got a K through 8, and then we don't have a high school.

So then you, the kids, can either pick between Stark County, which you took, or Bureau Valley, right?

- Yes.

- Those are the only two choices?

- That's the only two choices.

They used to have Henry, but they stopped doing that 'cause there weren't that many kids going there.

- Yeah.

I think, literally at the end, it was our kids.

My kids were the only ones going to Henry.

(laughs) Why'd you pick Stark over Bureau?

- Well, Stark was getting a new high school.

And when I first came in, Stark County was kind of like...

It was more, it was more, like, positive, where, like, BV was kind of like it felt like a hospital almost.

Like, the building was just like everything had been... Like, it felt cold in there.

Like, it wasn't great.

But Colby, my older brother, was also going to Stark County.

So, you know, it kind of made it the obvious choice.

- Were they nerds up there?

That's why you didn't wanna go hang out with a bunch of nerds?

- I don't know.

- Oh, okay.

- I don't know.

- Who's your advisor?

- Taylor Wilkinson is my advisor.

And I also have a second advisor, Mr. Preston Parrish.

- Okay.

Are they any good?

- I think so.

Yeah.

Maybe.

I'm here now, so they did something right.

- She thinks so.

(both laughing) So the advisors, are they your ag teachers?

- Yes.

- The same people?

- Yep.

- Okay.

So you're learning ag.

I mean, FFA is not a class in high school, though, right?

- Mm-mm.

- That's, like, an after-school group activity- - Yeah.

- That type of thing?

And you get a membership jacket when you get in, right?

- You do, if you're active in it.

- [Rob] Oh, you have to earn it?

- You have to earn it.

- You can't just buy one?

- No.

- What do you have to do to earn it?

- I mean, you could.

- It's like an initiation?

Do you have to, like, get branded or something?

- Don't make it sound as, you know- - Well, what do you have to do to get a jacket?

- You have to, like, work at the fundraisers.

Or, you know, like, you have to contribute.

- Oh, slave labor.

But they have been the same jackets for...

I had this same jacket.

They're corduroy, which it's a bold choice.

And then in the back, they always have the name of your school.

- [Chelsey] Mm-hmm.

- So they always have the state, and then they had the name.

Because I remember the kids that were in Wyoming back when I... Because they had "Illinois" and then "Wyoming," and then everybody was confused what state they- - Yeah.

- Yeah.

So, well, you got medals here.

- Mm-hmm.

- So tell me what these are.

- So, in order, you're supposed to have your medals from lowest to highest ranking from left to right.

So this is a state agriscience fair pin.

This is a national agriscience fair pin.

And then this is also a national agriscience fair pin.

But the reason it has the color band on it (laughs) is because it's ranked by placing.

- Oh.

- Yeah.

- Are these gold?

- Maybe.

- No, I don't think so.

- I don't think so.

- I think brass, maybe.

- Maybe.

- That's impressive, though.

So what did you get the national ones for?

- So the national one...

This one's fourth nationally, and this one's second.

- The ribbon is the second?

- Yeah.

- So that's the big one.

- Yeah.

- That's a big deal.

- Yeah.

- Okay.

And if I remember, you're only supposed to have three medals on front, right?

- Yeah.

- And then do you have medals inside?

- I have a silver chapter pin, and this last summer I was a delegate for the Illinois State FFA.

So I was, like, one of the people that voted as the state officers.

- Oh, so you're just voting for office?

Are you voting for, like, policy stuff like that?

- No, we don't really have that.

- [Rob] Okay.

- I don't think I've ever had a policy.

- Okay.

Yet?

- When I'm there yet.

- Yet?

- Yeah.

- And FFA, it's more than just high school, right?

You can do it in college, too?

- You can.

You can.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- I don't know much about that.

- Do you think you will find that out once you go to U of I?

- Probably.

- Or Southern?

- Probably.

Oh, Southern?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- If you go to Southern, you have to talk different.

- Really?

- Yeah.

- You think so?

- Well, I know so.

I went there.

- You know so?

- Yeah.

Y'all.

- But I have to have this attitude.

- No, that's at U of I.

- Yeah, I know.

- Yeah.

- I either have the choice.

- It's one or the other.

- I have to talk differently, or I have to have an attitude.

- You could just not go to school.

- Yeah.

- It's a good plan.

- I think it's a plan.

- Yeah.

Okay.

So the national, tell me, like, what your project was.

- So for this project, I worked with probiotics.

- [Rob] For the one you got the second on?

- The second place for my freshman sophomore year.

'Cause it's a whole year of interviews.

- [Rob] Probiotics?

- It's the bacteria in yogurt.

And I freeze-dried it.

And I tested if, like, different fat contents of yogurt.

'Cause if you look, there could be, like, full-fat or, like, low-fat yogurt.

- [Rob] Yeah.

- And so you test to see if there's more or less bacteria in there.

- Oh, so, like, if it has higher fat, it'd have more bacteria?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- That was the thinking?

- That was the thinking process.

- Yeah.

You ever try that Dannon?

- No.

I don't think.

No.

- Okay.

- What is that?

- Dannon yogurt?

- No, I don't think so.

(Chelsey laughs) - Comes in a cup.

Okay, so what'd you find out?

- I found that there really wasn't any difference between the two.

But I could almost pinpoint, like, how much was in the yogurt, which is actually kind of cool.

- [Rob] How?

- You count.

I individually counted colonies after I grew them.

So, like, I identify them.

- How do you... A scientist?

A mad scientist?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- How did you grow stuff?

- So I plated it and then I put it in an incubator.

So, originally, I plated the bacteria to identify it, and then I took pictures of it and said, "Hey, this is what this looks like, and this is what this looks like."

And then I put the yogurt on it after on a different plate and grew them and then I individually identified them.

- Was this at your school's lab?

- This is at school, yeah.

- Okay.

So they have incubators and lasers and- - No lasers, but- - All that sort of stuff.

Okay.

- Maybe they'll work on it in, like, I don't know, couple years.

- And so this one was the one you got- - Second.

- Second.

That was your freshman year?

- That was my freshman-sophomore year, yeah.

- Okay.

- Because it's a whole year.

- Oh, I got ya.

- Yeah.

So it's, like, from that fall to...

If you make it to nationals, it's the national convention of the next year.

- Which let's not just pass that over.

To make the finals, the nationals is a huge deal- - Yeah.

- In FFA.

- Yeah.

- You're dealing with not just the entire state of Illinois, but everybody, right?

- Entire country.

Yeah.

- So do you have any idea, like, how many other people you were competing against?

- So, you have to win state, and they only send one person from each state.

So it's 50.

But top 10 are only allowed to interview.

So they're placed based off your papers.

So, like, the big paper that I had to write that correlates with the project, and then they'll grade it off that.

And then you get graded...

If you're accepted into top 10, you get graded on your interview on top of your paper.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- So tell me, when did you get the fourth?

Was that this year?

- That was this year, yeah.

This fall.

- Which is still incredible.

But it probably burns a little bit because you're like, "I wanted to move up."

- Yeah, I did want another color on my jacket.

But it's okay.

- Life's full of disappointments.

- It's okay.

All right.

- Yeah.

So what did you do for the fourth... Yeah, fourth?

- So this one, I stuck with freeze-drying, but I changed the bacteria and the food.

So I worked with E. Coli and ground meat and beef, and I freeze-dried it to see if the bacteria would survive.

- [Rob] How do you freeze-dry something?

- You run it through...

It's a machine that it runs through, and it goes through, like, a process, and it takes, like, almost all the water out of it.

So it's, like, dehydrated, but it's different.

- And you wanted to see if that was gonna kill?

- Yeah.

- Well, that would be cool 'cause then you just- - Then you wouldn't have that problem.

- Does that dry the meat out?

- Yeah, it dries it out almost into, like...

I don't know, like- - Cardboard?

- You think of MREs.

Like, think of that food.

- The meals ready?

The military stuff?

- Uh-huh.

Uh-huh.

- Yeah.

- The military stuff.

- Okay.

- That's almost what I can compare it to.

- So it turns it into crap, basically.

- Maybe?

- Yeah.

- I don't know.

Yeah.

- Turns it into crap.

(Chelsey laughs) Okay.

So what'd you find out?

Did that kill the E. coli?

- It did reduce it, yeah.

By a lot.

- Okay.

But if you're not gonna... (laughs) If it tastes bad... - Oh, it doesn't change the taste; it just might change the texture.

- [Rob] That is part of... That's a taste.

- Is it?

- Yes.

- I don't think so.

I think it's different.

Taste and texture are two different things.

- You're wrong.

- Like, think of, like, pudding.

There's a different texture, but if you have vanilla pudding, it tastes like vanilla.

- I find that question off-pudding.

- Ha.

Mm-hmm.

- Okay.

(Chelsey laughs) All right.

(Rob laughs) The creed for the FFA, do you know that?

- I did do creed freshman year, but I- - So it's like a pledge, right?

- Yeah.

- And, I don't know, if you said it from beginning to end, it's probably 45 seconds or a minute, maybe?

- Maybe.

It depends on how fast you're saying it.

- You don't remember it?

- I don't remember all of it, no.

- It's uncomfortable, isn't it?

Being put on the spot?

- No, it's okay.

I'll accept it.

- Really?

- I'll accept defeat.

- How's your dad?

- Fine.

(laughs) - James?

- Yeah.

- We used to call him Jimmy.

- Oh!

- Yeah.

Back in the day.

I went to high school with him.

- Mm-hmm.

- Yeah.

I was in FFA.

You know who the president was when I was a freshman?

- My dad?

- Your dad, Jimmy.

Yeah.

I wanted to win Star Greenhand.

So that's, like, the freshman award.

- Mm-hmm?

- Yeah.

And they said, "You could do that if you say the creed at the annual meeting."

So I thought I would do that.

- Mm-hmm?

- Yeah.

And I memorized it.

But I thought, in case I get up there, because I was nervous, speaking in front of other people, that I would put kind of a cheat sheet underneath the podium.

And when I got up there, the cheat sheet was gone.

- Uh-oh.

- And when I started to give the creed, I got nervous because you're looking out over 100 people that I knew, and I went to kind of look down to see where I was... - It's not there?

- Guess who took it?

- Are you sure he took it?

- I am positive he took it.

(Chelsey laughs) - He denies it.

He says he didn't take it.

- I don't want to call your dad a liar.

(Chelsey laughs) So I got through maybe the first four lines, and I froze up, and I just walked off in shame.

And do you know who was... 'Cause I had to walk past your dad.

He was laughing at me.

(Chelsey laughs) So tell me he didn't do that.

- I don't know.

I don't know.

- Anyway, water under the bridge, right?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- I barely think about it daily anymore.

(Chelsey laughs) Not a problem.

- But you grew from it, right?

- No.

- 'Cause you're here now.

- I'm here despite that moment in my life.

(Chelsey laughs) So, what's the future hold?

I know you wanna go to a college, but, like, if you think down the road, what do you wanna do?

- Well, after college, I do wanna get another degree post-bachelor's.

So either master's.

But I haven't decided on my PhD yet.

I don't know if I want that.

- PhD?

- Yeah, I might want that.

- You wanna be a doctor?

- Well, yeah.

- Doctor or something.

- Doctor or something.

- Okay.

Well, I mean, that's great to have those types of goals.

Are you smart?

- Yes.

- (laughs) That's good!

- What are you meant to say to that?

Yes!

(both laughing) - Yeah, if you're gonna get your PhD, I think, yeah.

- Yeah.

- So what I like about FFA is they seem like they are good at pushing the kids that are involved because you got the regular kids going through high school, and they're doing their things and whatever.

It seems like FFA, as in general, as a whole, kind of tries to set those students up for a future.

"Try to look beyond high school.

Look beyond college.

Hey, what do you really wanna do that's gonna make you happy?"

- It sets you up for success, I think, because you could do basically anything in agriculture, and it would fall under that category.

And FFA's really good at letting you explore what you know, what you like, and then it could fit you into a part of that category.

And, you know, it all falls under agriculture.

So, we all have to eat, you know?

- You being the president of the Stark County FFA, it's a big chapter, right?

- Yeah, we have probably 80 or so- - Wow!

- Members that are active or somewhat active that are contributing.

So, I think that's really cool we have a lot of kids.

- Do you get a gavel?

- I get a gavel, yeah, at banquet.

I only get to use it during our meetings.

- [Rob] Where else are you gonna use it?

- I don't know.

- You gonna hammer some nails?

- Yeah.

(Rob laughs) - It's quite an honor to be voted in as president, especially with a chapter that big.

- Yeah.

- And, again, you don't quite know if you're gonna go into FFA and onto college level?

- Maybe.

I don't know.

I don't see myself going into college, I guess.

I don't know how far it goes into college.

Like, I don't know that much about that.

But, I mean, if the opportunity does arise, then, yeah, I would.

- What if you have, like, an eighth grader, right?

A little punk that comes up to you and says, "Hey, I'm going into high school.

Do you think I should get involved in this FFA thing?"

What would you tell them?

- I would tell them 100% yes.

'Cause even if they don't, if they're not going into an agricultural field, it still builds the skills.

Like, FFA skills that you get, like the public speaking and all that, it helps in any job that you can have.

Whether you're working in an office job or, you know, you're out in the field, every skill that you get from FFA, it still helps.

And it looks great on a resume, so.

- Oh, absolutely.

Yeah.

You aren't gonna tell your dad that we talked about that, right?

- No.

He won't see this.

Mm-mm.

- Nobody sees this.

- No!

- But I thought maybe being your dad... - I won't tell him.

- Your dad... See, it used to be you would get these books, and they would give them to you for free, and they had everybody's phone number in it, and they would be about that thick, right?

- Mm-hmm.

- Your dad is a kind of guy that could take one of those and rip it in half.

He could rip a phone book in half.

What I'm getting at is that your dad is an intimidating presence.

- Yeah.

- And I don't want him to know that we were both making fun of him.

- "We?"

- That's what I said.

- "We were both?"

- That's what I said.

- Okay.

All right.

Just know I'm blaming it on you if he finds out.

(laughs) - Okay.

(Chelsey laughs) Stark County FFA, do they have any social media?

- We have a Facebook, yeah.

- It's just Stark County FFA?

- Yep.

- Okay.

I think it's very, very impressive what you have done competing at a national level.

I've been in FFA, so I know the level of competition that you have had to endure to get to this level.

It's fun to talk to you.

It's fun to talk to someone that is passionate about agriculture and passionate about their future.

I don't know what you're gonna do in this life, but I am pretty sure that you're gonna make this world a better place.

So I wanna thank you for coming on the show today.

- Well, thank you for having me.

- Yeah.

I believe that you skipped class.

I don't believe this whole... - I did not skip class.

- What time do you start your day?

- Like, 11:00, and then I'm out by maybe 1:30.

- Yeah.

(Chelsey chuckles) Yeah, I went through high school the wrong way.

Chelsey Stotler from Bradford, Illinois, thank you very much for being here.

Everybody else, we'll catch you next time.

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