It’s time to highlight another American Star Award Finalist from the 2015 FFA Convention.
Dylan Massa is a finalist for the American Star Farmer Award. Hailing from Missouri, he is a member of the Liberal FFA chapter.
“I run a registered commercial cow-calf operation down in the southwest region in Barton County, right on the Kansas line,” he said in an interview with AgWired during the 2015 National FFA Convention. “We believe in just making a practical beef animal. You need to have a cow before we can have a calf.”
Dylan’s operation raises yearling bulls. They currently sell Simangus and Simmental breeds, and are starting to produce Red Angus, Red Simmental, and Red crosses. They also sell bred heifers along with open replacement heifers, and also sell feeder calves for cash flow purposes.
Dylan is a humble, practical, hard working professional, and an exemplary ambassador for the beef industry. He does not spend much time talking about the challenges he faces, he prefers to focus conversation on his goals.
“My goal is for the operation to eventually be at 500 cows, because then I could sell 30 calves, eight months out of the year for cash flow purposes, and hopefully have around 250 registered females to produce fall and spring animals to have two biannual registered sales,” he said, “But I can guarantee that once I get there, I’m not going to stop. If I can the work force manageable and keep the quality sufficient, then we’re going to keep moving forward.”
Photo of Dylan courtesy of the National FFA Organization
Listen to Jamie’s interview with Dylan here:
Interview with Dylan Massa, American Star Farmer Finalist
Find photos from the event here: 2015 National FFA Convention Photo Album
