The state convention held April 20-21 in the Twin Cities offered students the opportunity to represent their schools and towns while also continuing to grow their knowledge and experience.

“The group had a great time. It is always a fun time heading up to represent our chapter and our region at the state level. Students all learned new things, and were able to connect with other FFA members from around the state,” Marshall FFA advisor Sarah Lee said. “I am extremely proud of our groups’ hard work and willingness to try new things.”

For the CDEs, Marshall took third place in both the poultry and ag communications competitions.

For poultry, members have to identify parts of the chicken, evaluate products that have been processed for consumers, grade turkey carcasses and evaluate eggs, along with a written test about the industry. The Poultry team consisted of Coudron, Owen Louwagie, Alissa Moen and Avery Schauman.

Photo submitted by Sarah Lee: Marshall FFA senior Annabel Coudron stands with her awards for first place in poultry, first place in the sheep Production Proficiency and for receiving the James Tracy Scholarship at the 2026 state convention.

Individually, Coudron was the overall individual champion, defending her title from last year.

Moen placed 23rd, Louwagie came in 45th and Schauman finished in 64th out of the 163 individual competing students.

The Ag Communications team included Yahir Barradas, Ben Brandl, Xander Oey and Jayden Randall, and was led by Brandl’s second-place overall finish.

Marshall was well-represented in the event’s top-15, as Barradas placed fifth, Randall finished eighth and Oey followed in 11th.

Ag communications has members listen to a press conference, then fully create a communication plan that includes writing a magazine article, creating a magazine layout, making a 60-second commercial promoting the article, group and a social media plan.

Photo submitted by Sarah Lee: The Marshall FFA Ag Communications team stands with their third-place trophy at the 2026 state convention. Left to right stands Ben Brandl, Jayden Randall, Yadhir Barradas and Xander Oey.

“The energy among this group of students was fantastic. They set their goals high and worked hard to get there. After the region competition, the Poultry team set their goal to be in the top-five teams at state. They came in every morning at 7 a.m. to practice, and their hard work paid off,” Lee said. “The Ag Communications team also set their goal to be on stage. They came in for some long Saturdays and after-school practices, and their hard work paid off as well … Everyone was very proud of the results.”

Notably, Coudron had a memorable state convention experience for her final go-around.

Along with her first-place finish in poultry, Coudron also placed second in her sheep production proficiency, as she has a flock of Targhee sheep that she raises, breeds and shows. She also was the winner of the James Tracy Scholarship, and was the lone Marshall member to earn her State FFA Degree this year.

“Annabel not only led the poultry team to great success, but has been making sure that students have opportunities in FFA throughout the year,” Lee said. “She encouraged members to try new events, and pushed them to do their best. It has been fun to work with an individual who is extremely hard working and high achieving. Her leadership and passion will truly be missed next year.”

The James Tracy Scholarship is in honor of James. W. Tracy, who was a Northfield-area farmer who died in 2014, and donated his farm to the FFA organization to continue supporting youth in agriculture.

Photo submitted by Sarah Lee: The full Marshall FFA chapter that attended the 2026 state convention takes a photo at the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

To earn a state degree, the highest state-level honor a student can receive, FFA members must complete 360 hours of agriculture instruction and invest either $2,000 or 300 hours in a supervised agricultural experience, complete 25 or more hours in community service and participate in 10 activities above the chapter level.

“I am also super proud of their (the student’s) support and encouragement for each other,” Lee said. “They were so excited to cheer Annabel on for her state degree and proficiency, because it has been a while since someone from Marshall FFA earned this recognition.”

Additionally, Marshall’s best Informed greenhand CDE team finished in 54th place, as did the soils team in 38th, offering more highlight’s to the chapter’s state appearance.

“Although we had fewer teams competing than some other area schools, our teams set their goal high. With higher goals, comes additional work. Both the poultry team and ag communications team put a lot of extra time in outside of school to prepare,” Lee said. “The soils and best informed greenhand teams also practiced outside of school, but their goals were more focused on learning than getting on stage.”

Marshall also had two delegates to represent the chapter at the annual business meeting while at state, David Lanoue and Tattyana Rykhus.

“We are very excited to be a growing chapter. Our members are excited about the many opportunities that they have,” Lee said. “The future is looking bright for Marshall FFA.”

Other area success

There were plenty of other individual and team successes achieved by area schools at the state convention as well, further representing the region of southwest Minnesota.

Lakeview’s Teegan Fiene finished first overall in the meats CDE, leading the team to a first-place finish as well. Adeline Louwagie placed fifth while Kiara Hinz also followed in sixth. Lakeview also came in 12th in farm business management, led by Aubrey Nething’s 19-place finish.

Westbrook-Walnut Grove also had a multitude of top finishes. The chapter took first in both companion animal science (CAS) and Soils. Notably, Leah Carter was the overall champion for soils, while Natasha Wahl took eighth and Sydney Foster came in 18th.

Lauryn Bender led the CAS team in seventh, as did Juliana Mass in 10th.

Additionally, WWG took second in poultry, third in Milk Quality, third in meats, fourth in fish and wildlife, ninth in agronomy, 13th in nursery landscape, 20th in Farm business management and 28th in horse.

Also returning home with some hardware was Russell-Tyler-Ruthton. The chapter placed first overall in the vet science CDE, led by Sara Dwire, Jilian Schoenfeld and Summer Labrune, who finished in sixth, seventh and eighth individually, respectively. Madison Dwire also placed 10th.

The RTR farm business management team also earned a first-place finish, led by Henry Serreyn, Chris Janish and Locklin Matzner’s fourth, sixth and seventh-place finishes.

The RTR teams also finished in fifth in both livestock and meats, 20th in poultry, 25th in agronomy, 37th in CAS and 38th in dairy cattle.

Minneota came away with a fourth-place finish in meats, led by Kaden Lasnetski placing fourth individually. Emerson Johnson took 13th, while Colton Bitker came in 18th. Minneota also took 15th in dairy cattle and 16th in livestock.

The Murray County Central chapter had a good performance overall at state, highlighted by a second-place finish in the best informed greenhand CDE. Ethan Nelson led the way in ninth, and Morgan Heezen placed 15th.

MCC also took sixth in Soils, seventh in fish and wildlife, ninth in floriculture, 18th in meats and 19th in both poultry and livestock.

Red Rock Central placed 17th in livestock, as did Yellow Medicine East in 42nd for poultry.

A handful of area chapters represented the best informed greenhand CDE, as YME placed 37th, Wabasso took 41st and Canby followed in 64th.

Rounding out all of the area state convention success, Wabasso had a fourth-place finish in floriculture, took 18th in poultry and placed 21st in fish and wildlife.