Submitted Photo Members of the South Prairie FFA Ag Sales team display their state award as they now are headed to nationals this fall. From left are Natalee Becker, Jacob Kramer, Brylee Beeter, Joshua Lindbo and Gracie Rauschenberger. Becker, Beeter, Lindbo and Rauschenberger will represent North Dakota at nationals.

The Agricultural Sales team from South Prairie FFA will be aiming for a gold award when it competes in the national competition Oct. 23-26 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

In March, the team of Jacob Kramer, Natalee Becker, Brylee Beeter, Gracie Rauschenberger and Joshua Lindbo secured second place at the State FFA Winter Career Development Events (CDEs) in Minot. Because the first-place team, Napoleon, conceded its spot, South Prairie FFA now will represent North Dakota FFA in Ag Sales at nationals. The top four team members’ scores are counted in the team score for state. So, competing at nationals will be Becker, Beeter, Rauschenberger and Lindbo.

Competing at nationals will be Becker, Beeter, Rauschenberger and Lindbo.

“When I first found out we were going to nationals again, I was very excited and nervous for the challenge ahead,” Beeter said. She said she feels “confident in our team’s abilities” and is “excited to see what happens. All our team members are very active in our school community.”

Rauschenberger also said she is “super excited about the opportunity to compete at the national level, especially alongside so many other FFA members.”

Lindbo said it is a different type of excitement than the first time he attended a national event. The team of Lindbo, Beeter and Becker, along with Madelyn Hogue, earned a gold at the 2023 event, finishing fourth nationally in Food Science and Technology.

Competing in a national contest often is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. South Prairie FFA has made remarkable progress over the past nine years, having qualified its teams for national-level competitions across four different contests for the past three consecutive years.

Becker said she initially was excited but nervous when she ran to tell her dad the good news after learning the national spot was confirmed.

“He was so excited for us, and that is when I realized that I was ready to represent North Dakota,” she said. “I think it’d be really neat if we could go down there again and come back as a national gold team.”

Beeter said she hopes to study for the contest as much as possible to achieve the gold and also do as well as she can individually to help the team.

“However, the only part of Agricultural Sales you can study for is the portion of the test; the other is just selling and social skills,” she said.

Students competing in the Agricultural Sales Career Development Event must demonstrate skills essential to the production and marketing of agricultural products. FFA describes the team event as a firsthand look at developing product knowledge and driving sales.

Rauschenberger said she plans to fit as much studying as possible into her busy schedule leading up to nationals. Additionally, she hopes the team will come out of the contest feeling successful, even if they do not finish first.

“I want to leave feeling like we did our best and are proud of what we accomplished,” she said.