Renwick FFA member Austin Simon was recognized as the State Star in Agribusiness, one of the association’s top honors, during the virtual 92nd Kansas FFA Convention, May 27-29, 2020,.

Each year, the Kansas FFA Association recognizes three FFA members who have the top Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) programs with the Star Farmer, Star in Agribusiness, and Star in Ag Placement awards. The Star competitions are sponsored by Farm Credit Associations of Kansas, United Bank and Trust, and Kansas Farm Bureau.

Simon’s SAE is in Agricultural Mechanics Design and Fabrication. He has been selling chicken coops to local farm and home stores, in addition to adding a hay hauling venture to his resume. Simon offers two sizes of chicken coops and builds custom coops as well. He had 35 chicken coop projects in 2019 and hauled 2,550 bales of hay.

Austin is the son of Kurt and Jennifer Simon. His FFA chapter advisors are Cheyenne Holliday and Cody Holliday. The district star winners who were finalists for the state Star in Agribusiness honor were: North Central District: Grace Otott, Washington County; Northeast District: Joel Kennedy, Jackson Heights; Southwest District: Josey Schmidt, Greeley County.