Missouri FFA News Releases

Dustin Tate Receives Second Place 2009 Missouri FFA Outdoor Recreation Entrepreneurship and Placement Award

COLUMBIA , Mo., April 17, 2009 – Dustin Tate, of the Brunswick FFA Chapter, Brunswick, Mo., was the second-place recipient of the FFA Outdoor Recreation Entrepreneurship and Placement Award at the 81^st Missouri FFA Convention.

Tate, a senior at Brunswick High School, is the son of Ron and Donna Tate. His FFA advisor is Tom Zeilstra.

As an FFA member, Tate participated in National FFA convention, State FFA leadership camp, and he was the winner of the national scholarship.

Tate always enjoyed the outdoors and hunting. For Tate’s Supervised Agricultural Experience Program (SAE), he began working at a local hunting club, Twin Lakes Goose Club. He constructs state of the art duck pits and deer blinds. Tate put in a lot of hours and became one of three full time employees. In the summers Tate jobs consist of maintaining the grounds by mowing paths and clearing brush along with building the duck pits. In the fall he prepares the blinds by camouflaging them, flooding fields, and setting out decoys. In winter his main job is to guide hunts. He also must keep up with the paperwork such as emailing the owners, former costumers and prospective clients. Filling receipts, manuals, and financial information is part of his responsibilities also.

After graduation, Tate plans to attend college while also working at Twin Lakes Goose Club.

Proficiency awards recognize FFA members who excel as agricultural entrepreneurs, employees or volunteers while gaining hands-on career experience. Outdoor recreation entrepreneurship and placement is one of 47 proficiency awards presented at the state level.

The Missouri Department of Conservation, of Jefferson City, Mo. sponsored this award.

The Missouri FFA has 24,410 members representing 317 chapters. The national organization has more than 507,000 members representing 7,439 local chapters in 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands .

The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

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