By Andi Anderson
The National FFA Organization has announced the 16 finalists for its prestigious 2025 American Star Awards. These awards recognize outstanding members who have excelled in agriculture through their supervised agricultural experience (SAE) programs.
The American Star Awards highlight the best among thousands of American FFA Degree recipients.
The awards include four categories — American Star Farmer, American Star in Agribusiness, American Star in Agricultural Placement, and American Star in Agriscience. Each finalist demonstrated advanced agricultural skills, leadership, management abilities, and academic excellence while completing their SAE projects.
Finalists for the American Star Farmer award are Nathan Clark (Kentucky), Brady Frascht (Iowa), Ryder Klaassen (Oklahoma), and Benjamin Joseph Scheresky (North Dakota).
In the American Star in Agribusiness category, the finalists are Nash McKenzie (Missouri), John Buryl Neely (Tennessee), Blake Twenhafel (Illinois), and Trevor Wright (California).
For the American Star in Agricultural Placement award, the finalists include Braden Compton (Kentucky), Nevin Erbsen (Illinois), Caldyn David Huper (Minnesota), and Amanda Osmundson (California).
The American Star in Agriscience finalists are Delana Erbsen (Illinois), Joanna Hamilton (Ohio), Matthias David Hefty (Indiana), and Madison Perkins (Texas).
A panel of judges will interview the finalists before selecting one winner from each category. The winners will be announced at the 98th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis this fall.
The American Star Awards are supported by sponsors such as Bayer, Cargill, Case IH, John Deere, and Syngenta. These sponsors also back the American FFA Degree recognition program.
The National FFA Organization serves over one million student members across all U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The program focuses on youth leadership and agricultural education.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-zoran-zeremski
Categories: Indiana, Rural Lifestyle