Farmer's Breakfast

While the temperatures failed to reach positive numbers last Wednesday morning, and many Phillips County residents were snuggly tucked away in bed, members of the Malta High School Future Farmers of America were up and at ‘em, cooking a meal for their annual fundraiser breakfast to kick-off FFA week.

“During FFA week, we always host our free-will pancake breakfast,” Malta FFA advisor Grant Messerly said. “It’s a nice, long tradition and we generally feed 50 or 60 people from the community and then close to 100 of the middle and high school students. The school doesn’t serve breakfast today, it is all on us.”

The flapjacks were fluffy, the sausage cooked to a golden brown and while some FFA members cooked in the Malta High School kitchen, others cooked back in the group’s classroom.

The FFA originated in 1928 when 33 students from 18 states gathered in Kansas City, Mo., at a time when young men were “losing interest in farming,” according to the National FFA website. The mission of the FFA 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.

At Malta this year, a total of 23 students are FFA members. During the year, the students attend 10-to-15 events to compete at each year and every other year, head to the national convention in Indianapolis (last year’s 16 juniors and seniors made the trip.)

“FFA provides these students with work ethics and a sense of responsibility and community pride,” Messerly said. “We do a lot in the community.”

Malta senior Kayden Moore moved to town halfway through his freshman year from Arizona where he wasn’t really aware of the FFA. He said he decided to join Malta FFA because working in agriculture is something he enjoys and something he is contemplating continuing after high school. As far as the morning’s breakfast, Moore said everything was going accordingly.

“The pancakes are cooking, and everything is going smoothly so far,” he said.

Fellow senior Maria Brown is in her first year of FFA and said she joined the group on her father’s (Luke Brown) advice as he is a former FFA member at Chinook High School. Brown said she enjoys being around animals — especially horses and cattle — and said her father’s advice on the group was top notch.

“I knew what to expect because he did it for years and I am enjoying myself,” she said.

Though the Malta FFA holds many fundraisers during the year, their annual FFA Banquet is the granddaddy of them all. The event will be held on Thursday, April 12 this year and will feature a new twist from previous years.

“This year we are going to try a potluck,” Messerly said. “I will still cook my world-famous pork loins, and then we are going to ask the community to bring dishes as well.”