FFA chapters look for various ways to earn money for chapter activities and serve the community at the same time. Several have found that holding machinery consignment auctions can draw in hundreds of people, offer them a chance to sell or buy items and also earn money through commission and concession sales for the FFA.

One such chapter is the Sullivan FFA. Advisor Jeff Miller says this event has boomed. In 2012 some $700,000 worth of auction sales were recorded at the event. It is now one of the biggest, if not the biggest FFA-sponsored consignment sale in Indiana.

Tenth Anniversary: The 10th annual Sullivan FFA consignment auction takes place on Saturday, April 6.

The 10th anniversary sale will be held on Saturday, April 6, beginning at 9 a.m. EDT. The event is held at the Sullivan County 4-H Fairgrounds. FFA members and their parents and friends will be involved in many aspects of putting on the sale.

A local auction service, Jeff Boston Auction Service, helps coordinate the consignments. For more information you can visit www.bostoncentury.com. To consign items or to get more details, contact Jeff Boston at 812-382-4440.

Boston reports that the 2012 sale included more than 1,000 buyers, some coming from several states besides Indiana. More information about featured items that will be offered in the sale will be shown on the Website as it gets closer to the sale date. Items offered for auction include farm machinery, livestock equipment and construction equipment.

Sullivan FFA is active in a number of activities, Miller notes. Last fall the chapter participated in a local parade and featured former Master Farmer winners of Sullivan County. The Master Farmer award is sponsored by Indiana Prairie Farmer and the Purdue University College of Agriculture.

Master Farmers from Sullivan County in the modern era of the award, since 1968, include Edward Carmichael, awarded in 2012, Bill Mann, Howard Unger and Jim Bell. The chapter wanted to honor them, and show the community how farmers are involved in agriculture, Miller notes.