Tarleton State University hosts 46th annual CDE invitational
By Ashley Inge—
CTT Editor
Tarleton State University hosted the 46th annual invitational CDE (Career Development Events) contest on Thursday.
CDE contests are FFA (Future Farmers of America) events that allow students to show their skills within different aspects of the agriculture industry.
According to texasffa.org, CDE’s build on what is learning in agricultural classes and encourage members to put their knowledge into practice. These events are designed to help a member prepare for a career in agriculture by testing and challenging the student’s technical, leadership, interpersonal and teamwork skills as well as their knowledge of the subject matter.
Dr. David Frazier, an associate professor in the agricultural and consumer sciences department, explained what he hopes students take away from these contests.
“This is a great chance for the students to practice their knowledge and decision-making skills prior to the state qualifying event,” Frazier said.
FFA members from across the state came to Tarleton during the 2016 CDE invitational for the Dairy Judging Contest. Photo by Shelby Clayton
Research also shows that because of the invitational CDE’s being held at Tarleton, many students end up choosing to come to Tarleton.
“[The events] also let [the students] see how wonderful the Tarleton State University campus, students, farm and faculty are. We have research that shows many of our students, in all colleges on campus, first experience Tarleton State University when attending the Invitational CDE,” Frazier said.
Frazier also explained why the CDE’s are important to students.
“These contests allow students to develop cognitive skills within the contest of agriculture. Students learn to apply previous knowledge to decision making processes and then they learn to justify their decisions. These types of skills, although beneficial in the contests, will benefit these students in all aspects of their future lives,” Frazier said.
Almost 10,000 students participated in 19 contests. The contest categories included: Ag Sales, Dairy Cattle, Entomology, Environmental and Natural Resources, FBM, Floriculture, Homesite Evaluation, Horse, Land, Livestock, Marketing Plan, Meats, Milk Quality and Products, Nursery/Landscape, Poultry, Range, Veterinary Science, Wildlife and Wool.
This is the largest invitational that the university will host this spring. High school students will be back on campus on April 18 for the area FFA contests, and then again on April 26 when Tarleton hosts the state FFA contests for Homesite Evaluation, Land, Milk Quality and Products, Environmental and Natural Resources, Dairy Cattle, and Range.
