Hugoton FFA member Austin Nordyke was recognized as the State Star in Agribusiness, one of the association’s top honors, during the eighty-eighth Kansas FFA State Convention, June 1-3, 2016, on the Kansas State University campus.

Each year, the Kansas FFA Association recognizes three members who have the top Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) programs with the Star Farmer, Star in Agribusiness and Star in Ag Placement awards. The Star competitions are sponsored by ICM, Inc., United Bank and Trust and Kansas Farm Bureau.

Nordyke’s Supervised Agricultural Experience Program (SAE) is in Plant Systems Landscape Entrepreneurship, in which he runs his own lawn care service, Austin Nordyke Lawn Care. He has built a customer base of approximately 30 customers, and manages the schedule, billing and equipment maintenance of his business. He plans to attend Kansas State University and major in agricultural engineering. Austin is the son of Paul and Shannon Nordyke. His advisor is Les McNally.

Finalists for the Star in Agribusiness honor were: Hunter Idol, Doniphan West FFA and Colt Sutterby, Uniontown FFA.

Submitted by the Kansas FFA Association.