Tarkio High School senior FFA member Quin Staten was recently named Missouri’s Star in Agribusiness, won the Missouri FFA Turf and Landscape Maintenance Proficiency Award, and earned a State FFA Degree. (Submitted photo)

The Missouri FFA Association recognized Quin Staten of the Tarkio FFA Chapter as the State Star in Agribusiness at the 98th Missouri FFA Convention. Quin is the son of Mark and Lori Staten and his FFA advisor is Dustin Lambertsen.

State Stars in Agribusiness are selected based upon outstanding achievement in work experience in an agricultural business as part of a student’s supervised agricultural experience program and active participation in FFA. American Family Insurance sponsors the 16 State Star in Agribusiness awards as well as the State Star in Agribusiness Award.

Staten, a senior this year at Tarkio High School, began what would become his SAE when he was 10 years old. When he first started, Staten had a mower and a few yards in Tarkio that he mowed. Deciding that he could fill a need in the community, he built Q & M Mowing from the ground up. Each year of high school allowed him to grow his business and offer more to his customers. Quin took on more yards year after year, which allowed him to expand to other towns in Atchison County. With this expansion, Quin also picked up several commercial properties. As he expanded, Quin began to offer leaf clean-ups, tree and shrub trimming, and granular fertilizer application. The growth required an increase in inventory and laborers, which allowed him to purchase new mowers, a truck and even a shop to work out of. Quin provided services for 60 customers around the Tarkio area. This business has given him the opportunity to learn several different skills required to operate a successful business, such as communication, time management and customer relations.

While at the State Convention, Staten was also presented with the Missouri FFA Turf and Landscape Maintenance Proficiency Award and a State FFA Degree. Proficiency awards recognize FFA members who excel as agricultural entrepreneurs, employees or volunteers while gaining hands-on career experience. Turf and Landscape Maintenance is one of 46 proficiency award areas recognized at the state level. Pro Lawns, Inc. sponsored this award. Quin’s State FFA Degree recognition was among 1,141 degrees handed out this year. Awarding of the degree, the highest recognition a state can award, is based on a member’s supervised agricultural experience program in agribusiness or production agriculture and leadership ability as demonstrated through involvement in FFA, school and community activities. The State FFA Degree award charms are sponsored by MFA Inc., Columbia.

As an FFA member, Staten has served as the Tarkio FFA president, secretary and treasurer. He is also a member of the National Honor Society, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, student council, theatre, band, and chorus. He also competes on the East Atchison cross country and track teams. After high school, Staten plans to attend the State Technical College of Missouri in Linn to pursue a degree in commercial turf and grounds management.

The Missouri FFA has 27,000 members representing 369 chapters. The national organization has more than 1,042,245 members representing 9,407 chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.