Markley's Mum Project Wins Nat'l FFA Proficiency Title
Published: Friday, November 15, 2024
Cailey Markley, 18, of Argos set her sights on the FFA National Proficiency Award at a young age after spending years tagging along to the national convention with her mom and FFA advisor, Lynette Markley, and seeing the splendor of the festivities.
"My mom has been an ag teacher for 30 years, and she's gotten multiple students to the national level," Markley said. "I always wanted to be up on that stage with her, winning and having that achievement together."
For Markley, winning the national proficiency is "overwhelming but in a good way." After her achievement was announced, there was an explosion of congratulations and support from friends and community members.
"All the work I had put in the last couple years had just really paid off," she said.
Her biggest takeaway is developing herself individually.
"It really helped me find what I want to be," she said.
Markley started her mum business when she was in the sixth grade. She grew up on her family farm with her mom, dad and two brothers, Cameron and Colton, in Argos. They raise sheep, goats and beef cattle.
"My brothers always did the farm, the diversified livestock. And I had that proficiency, too, but I wanted to do something else that was a little different. I wanted to be able to get to the level I got to this year," Markley said.
Markley's dad, Brent, started her on the track of mum production after learning more about it at the produce auction he works at.
"We came up with the idea as another way to get people out to our farm (and) get to know us because we sell livestock, too, in the winter and spring," Markley said, explaining that it filled a need for marketing in the late summer and fall.
Growing up, Markley said she was more interested in livestock than horticulture and floriculture, but since she began her mum business, she has found a new passion.
"That first year, it was just so exciting. The amount of knowledge I gained, everything I took part in—it was really amazing to see how much actually went into all of it, and it really just grew my attention," she said. "So, after that first year I just decided I want this to be my thing. I want to take over the business and I want to do it."
Some things she learned include just how different mums are from other flowers. One of her early challenges was figuring out which fertilizers to use and coordinating with nearby farmers to avoid picking up residue from their fertilizers and sprays. She also learned about fertilizer ratios, transferring plants to pots, soil types, how to establish roots and maintain shape and size of the plants, and more.
"I never realized all of it until I started doing it," she said.
Another challenge for Markley was irrigation, as she hand-watered all 800 mum plants in order to avoid rust buildup in the well system. This was balanced between school, a part-time job, FFA and 4-H.
A key skill she learned was agriculture marketing skills. She runs a Facebook page for the family farm with her dad and makes a point to talk to each customer.
"We really are based off of word of mouth," she said.
For the past two years, Markley has also expanded to farmers markets, sending a few dozen plants with friends who have a booth at the local event.
"With my project, doing all the social media, doing the word of mouth, all the different marketing strategies, I never thought that I would do that. I didn't know what I wanted to go to college for, and with this business, it helped me find my passion for what I wanted to study in college," she said.
Her business is based on customer relationships, which Markley said fuels her passion.
Besides customer relations and marketing, skills she has developed through her supervised agriculture experience include: professionalism, time management, responsibility, and finance and inventory management.
FFA has been a big part of Markley's life. She grew up going to convention with her mom and the older students, then attending herself as she became old enough to participate. Now, she credits it as one of the most influential programs she was involved in.
"Truly, FFA was probably the best part of my high school career. And even today, while I'm in college, it's still playing a big role," she said.
She also credits her parents for helping her achieve her goals.
"I couldn't be where I am today without them," she said.
Markley's advice to FFA students reaching for the national proficiency award is to be open minded, be willing to try new things and learn.
"It takes a lot of hard work and dedication," she said. "I think a lot of it has to do with who you choose to be. Anything is possible."
She also said it is important to have confidence, grow in abilities, and keep reminding oneself of the goal for inspiration.
"Keep in the back of your mind, 'who do I want to be someday? What makes me feel like I was enough?'" Markley said. "Not what other people think, but I think it's really important to focus on who you want to be and what you want to achieve."
Currently, she is a freshman at Purdue University and studying agribusiness marketing and farm management. She is also getting an entrepreneur and innovation certification.
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