Seven Hillsboro FFA students earned the Ohio AgriBusiness Association Agribusiness and Production Systems Certification during the 2023-24 school year. The students are Presley Blankenship, Ramsey Haines, Addyson Miles, Abigail Miller, Abigail Rudy, Gracie Thoroman and Samantha Tipton.

The Ohio AgriBusiness Association provides an industry-recognized, agribusiness credential that verifies high school student expertise in the areas of agriculture, agribusiness and production systems. To be eligible for the program, a student must be enrolled in a career-technical agricultural program and complete four required courses, where they are engaged in learning and applying technical skills in foundational agricultural concepts.

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE), a student project that involves real world agricultural activities done by students outside of the planned classroom and laboratory time, are also integral in attaining the OABA credential. A student’s SAE must be an entrepreneurial, placement or research-driven project pertaining to the agriculture industry with at least 500 hours of documented project work.

For more information about the Ohio AgriBusiness Association student credential, including requirements and past recipients, visit website www.oaba.net/student_credential.

Submitted by Corbin Winkle, reporter, Hillsboro FFA.