50 FFA alumni selected for New Century Farmer Program

The 2025 New Century Farmer Conference is taking place July 20 to 24 in Indianapolis, bringing together 50 elite FFA alumni from 22 states to advance their leadership and career skills while learning about working in the industry of agriculture from several different experts. Nearly a third of the participants are first-generation producers, with the majority of them being interested in farm ownership or entrepreneurship as potential career paths.

“There’s something powerful that happens when our New Century Farmers from across the country come together to learn about agriculture from people who live and breathe it every day,” said Emma Mendez, National FFA Program Manager, Alumni and Supporters. “These connections spark curiosity, build confidence, and open doors to the future. It’s not just about learning; it’s about feeling a part of something bigger.”

As part of the conference, participants will visit two local farms — Flanders A-Maizing Grain and Sheller Family Farms, both of which are in Noblesville. Flanders A-Maizing Grain is run by FFA alum Jim Flanders, who has also created other ag-related spin-offs, such as Simply from Scratch, a farm-to-table business which features dairy, produce, home-baked items, and more. They incorporate offerings from other local farmers to provide products they don’t make on their own, further lifting up their local community as they take products to farmers markets and other pop-up locations. The Flanders family looks forward to sharing their entrepreneurial journey with FFA students when they visit in July.

Students at this year’s New Century Farmer Conference will also travel the state to visit Corteva Agriscience, CNH Industrial, Reynolds Farm Equipment and Beck’s Hybrids to learn from the experts at each of these businesses.

Those attending the conference this year are:

Alabama

Arizona

• Trenton Castro
• Victoria Gonzalez
• Tiffany Gooszen
• Katherine Meade
• Keston Zimmerman

California

Colorado

• Kayla Rossi
• Elizabeth Shown

Connecticut

• Paige Lacerenza
• Amy Wiknik

Florida

• Austin Manning
• Jayden Weil

Illinois

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Maryland

Michigan

• Olivia Coffey
• Miriam Cook
• Alexander Scovill
• Jaren Waldschmidt
• Andersen Zachar

Minnesota

• Connor Ballman
• Amanda Sauder
• Elaine Sauder

Mississippi

Montana

• Bradley Fields
• Sheridan Johnson Hoyer

New York

• Andrew Curtis Szalach
• North Carolina
• Caden Robinette

Ohio

South Carolina

• Lyle Fulmer
• Rachel Gentry
• Porter Hand
• Matthew McSwain

South Dakota

• Kaeden Bitterman
• Carter Hofer
• Nathan Linke
• Aaron Linke

Texas

• Cayden Caston
• Reva Mosley
• Matthew Payne
• Alexa Rohe

Wisconsin

• Victoria Havlik
• John Rambatt
• Bekka Shemak
• Allis Teska
• Jescey Thompson
• Brooke Wittrock