SALEM — Adam Eichacker is a student who is rarely stumped.
But during a recent interview, a tractor—a special tractor—wouldn’t start for the 18-year-old McCook Central High School senior.
The tractor has started before, Eichacker said, and it will likely start again. That’s because Eichacker has shown he follows through on his goals.
Eichacker made history last week, becoming the first South Dakota FFA member to, in the same year, win two Star Awards. The awards—which were given to Eichacker in the Star Farmer and Star Agribusiness categories—are among the highest state honors given during the organization’s annual convention in Brookings. There are five Star Awards handed out each year. The categories are Greenhand, Farmer, Placement, Agribusiness, and Agriscience.
As the school’s FFA chapter president, Eichacker is busy juggling his farm and school responsibilities.
“I find it more of an honor than anything,” he said of the awards. “It’s been a tremendous achievement that hasn’t been without a lot of time and hard work.”
The Star Awards honor FFA members who create a supervised agricultural experience, which allows students to learn by involvement on the farm and in class.
The family’s farm, Eichacker Simmentals, operates in beef and crop production and is located 6 miles east of Salem. Eichacker said his family specializes in seed stock production and working as herd sires, producing the bulls that others use to breed their herds. He owns about 80 acres and has cattle to his name that he used for his supervised agricultural experience, keeping records and showing how he runs his business.
For the Star Entrepreneur award, Eichacker presented his own custom rolling business, in which he worked about 3,000 acres last year for nearby families and friends, renting a roller from his father, Steve. A roller is commonly used in a soybean field to push down rocks, level the field for harvest and attempt to reduce yield losses by making it easier to combine the field.
“There’s a lot of money in the agriculture business and they put a lot of money into their decision,” he said of rolling. “When they want your help, you have to do it at just the right time and get it at the right germination time frame. There’s a lot of people counting on you to get the job right.”
At the state level, four finalists are named in each Star Award category and they are each given a 30-minute interview with judges. Along with the materials and records they’ve presented, a winner is selected.
McCook Central FFA Advisor Terry Rieckman said the honor has been a goal for Eichacker since he was a freshman and was well-deserved.
“For as much time as he’s put into this, he’s earned it,” Rieckman said. “He’s someone who has really worked hard and this was a goal he’s set out for himself. He did it.”
Eichacker’s involvement in the family farm was a wish of his grandfather, Raphael, who died in 2013.
“That was his dream. When he passed away, that was one of the last things he mentioned in the hospital,” Adam said. “He said, ‘Don’t you run away from the farm.’ ”
His grandfather joked with him that he wanted Adam to be a farmer priest.
“The priest part hasn’t really happened, but the farming has stuck with me,” he said this week.
Adam was born into the operation. When he was a month old, he was toted to a livestock show in Rapid City.
“It’s always been in my blood,” he said. “It’s just something that I’ve always grown into.”
Eichacker said he had some previous experience in the Star Award program, where he was a finalist when he was a sophomore in the Star Greenhand competition. There, the judges overwhelmed him with the questions. This time, Eichacker said he was prepared for pretty much everything the judges asked of him.
“I find it to be an honor more than anything that my parents are willing to let me come into the farm,” he said. “Not just anyone can get into the agricultural business. Because it’s so expensive, you can’t just decide in a day, ‘Hey, I want to be a farmer.’ ”
In addition to FFA, Eichacker is also involved with showing cattle, football, golf, National Honor Society, choir, student council and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Eichacker said this fall he plans to attend South Dakota State University in Brookings to study ag production and learn more of the business side of farming.
“The plan is to get the degree and then come back and farm,” he said. “Anybody can drive a tractor, but I need to learn as much as I can.”
For now, he’s focused on finishing that tractor.
Along with five classmates, they’re working to finish the tractor and put the paint on it in time for graduation. The tractor was a steady part of his grandfather’s operation for about 20 years until a cracked engine block forced it into the line of trees on the farm. While most Cockshutt 570 models were diesel, this one is gas, Eichacker said. He hopes to finish it as a memorial to his late grandfather.
“That’s one of the tractors that meant a lot to him,” he said. “It’s going to be more of a memorial for him and I’m sure he would be proud of it.”
Shared from The Daily Republic – Mitchell, SD