Slaton FFA Member Honored as One of the Top Agribusiness-Based SAEs in the Nation
Saturday, November 20, 2021 | Author: Kyle Hampel, National FFA News Room
Slaton FFA member, Wyatt Harlan, was named a top-four finalist for the 2021 American Star in Agribusiness.
Pheasant hunting is a beloved pastime throughout the United States interior, and Harlan is one of the people who help it stay popular.
“With my business, I raise pheasants and guide hunts,” he said. “I also have diversified into selling pheasant carcasses and providing an outdoor experience for people in the West Texas area.”
His SAE entails running a business called Peacock Circle H Outfitters. He primarily focuses on being a wilderness guide, but raising pheasants also takes up a lot of his time.
“Starting with 300 birds back in 2015, I’ve grown my business to 2,000, which is a lot to manage,” Harlan said.
Peacock Circle H Outfitters is a family business inherited from his father and grandfather. He has revamped and expanded it in many ways over the last six years, and he said it’s something he’s passionate about as a 12th-generation ag worker.
“My dad and grandfather had owned it years before, and I just had a lot of great memories outdoors,” Harlan said. “I loved getting to watch my dad’s clients, taking the family out and making those memories, and I wanted to provide that same experience for people once again.”
One of Harlan’s favorite parts of the job is educating people from urban areas on the realities of agriculture and conservation, especially now that the COVID-19 pandemic is encouraging more families to visit the rural outdoors for their leisure. This love for education is why he is majoring in public policy and ag economics at Texas A&M University.
Beyond his family’s coaching, Harlan said his ag classes and FFA advisors also played a pivotal role in helping him learn more about wildlife management, water conservation, and the importance of record bookkeeping. He has served as state vice president of Texas FFA, and he loves giving back to the organization that helped make him who he is.
“I know what FFA has done for me, and I think it’s a really interesting and neat opportunity that FFA members have to give that back to the next generation,” he said.
For FFA members starting their SAEs, Harlan’s advice is to do your research early, so you don’t regret it later.
“Put in as much research as you can before making your first purchase,” he said.
About American Star Awards
Each year at the National FFA Convention & Expo, four FFA members are honored with American Star Awards for outstanding accomplishments in FFA and agricultural education.
The American Star Awards, including American Star Farmer, American Star in Agribusiness, American Star in Agricultural Placement and American Star in Agriscience, are presented to FFA members who demonstrate outstanding agricultural skills and competencies through completion of supervised agricultural experience (SAE). A required activity in FFA, an SAE allows students to learn by doing, by owning or operating an agricultural business, working or serving an internship at an agriculture-based business, or conducting an agriculture-based scientific experiment and reporting results.
Other requirements to achieve the award include demonstrating top management skills; completing key agricultural education, scholastic and leadership requirements; and earning an American FFA Degree, the organization’s highest level of student accomplishment.
The American Star in Agribusiness is awarded to the FFA member with the top nonproduction agribusiness SAE in the nation.
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