by Allison Lund

The Stars Over Indiana winners were announced at the fourth General Session of the Indiana FFA Convention. The contest’s categories include Star Farmer, Star in Agricultural Placement, Star in Agribusiness and Star in Agriscience. Star finalists submit an application, and participate in an interview process and a site visit leading up to the announcement of the winners.

FFA Star finalists have worked countless hours perfecting their wide variety of projects and tracking their work. Here are this year’s winners:

Star Farmer. Lucas Lyons of Jay County FFA is this year’s Star Farmer. His parents are Matt and Tammy Lyons. He grew up as a seventh-generation farmer on his family’s row crop farm, helping with the crop production as well as hay, sweet corn and goat production. Lyons now oversees his own operation of crops and goats. He attends Purdue University, where he is studying agricultural education. He hopes to teach and continue to run his operation while helping on the family farm.

Star in Agricultural Placement. Hailing from the Eastern Hancock FFA chapter, Ryan Kihlstrum is this year’s Star in Agricultural Placement. His parents are Mark and Rachelle Kihlstrum. He is a field tile technician with B. Thompson Associates LLC, and his project revolves around the field drainage work he does there. Over the years, Kihlstrum has picked up more responsibilities, and he hopes to take on a management role one day.

LOTS OF LEARNING: Sarah Williams, Eastern Hancock FFA advisor, joins Ryan Kihlstrum as he celebrates his Star in Agricultural Placement award. Kihlstrum has spent many years learning about and working in field drainage for his project.

Star in Agribusiness. This year’s Star in Agribusiness is Cole McCloskey of Lewis Cass FFA. His parents are Dean and Sheila McCloskey. He has spent most of his life around tractors, and his project includes restoring, collecting and selling antique tractors. He enjoys finding uncommon brands to work on, and sometimes he must make parts to use on those tractors. His grandfather has been collecting tractors since 1963, and McCloskey is working to carry on that tradition.

CARRYING ON TRADITION: Mike Appleton, Lewis Cass FFA advisor, has watched Cole McCloskey carry on his family’s tradition of collecting antique tractors. McCloskey restores and sells those tractors as part of his project that earned him the Star in Agribusiness award.

Star in Agriscience. Matthias Hefty is this year’s Star in Agriscience. He hails from the DeKalb FFA chapter, and his parents are David and Stacy Hefty. His project started when he noticed that his goats had a lot of hay waste. He researched and experimented with different feeding setups to figure out how he could cut down on that waste. His current project is finding new ways to detect parasites in goats.

STAYING CURIOUS: Matthias Hefty looked for new ways to feed his goats so he could decrease hay waste. This curiosity helped him work toward the Star in Agriscience award. He is joined by DeKalb FFA Advisor Leah Henderson.

For more information about the Stars over Indiana program, visit inffa.org.

Lund is a summer intern with Farm Progress. She writes from West Lafayette, Ind.