From a Gift of Ewes to 54,000 Broilers: Meet the 2026 American Star Farmer Finalists The Finalists
2026 Star Farmer Finalists
The American Star Farmer award recognizes the top American FFA Degree recipient whose supervised agricultural experience centers on owning and operating a production agriculture enterprise. These 4 finalists have built their operations through years of planning, investment, and daily work, and their results reflect sound management and a long-term commitment to agriculture. These videos tell the story of each finalist’s operation. The winner will be named on stage at the 99th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.
3:34Bailee Amstutz Star Farmer Finalist
3:33Kaleb Ellis Star Farmer Finalist
4:23Cooper Kline Star Farmer Finalist
2:38Justin Meyers Star Farmer Finalist
The Finalists
- Bailee Amstutz, North Union FFA, Ohio
- Kaleb Ellis, Cochrane-Fountain City FFA, Wisconsin
- Cooper Kline, North Rock Creek FFA, Oklahoma
- Justin Myers, Forreston FFA, Illinois
What They Have Built
Each of this year’s American Star Farmer finalists started small. Bailee Amstutz began with a few ewes her grandmother gave her at age 10. Cooper Kline bought a couple of gilts from fellow FFA members as an eighth grader. Justin Myers rented 9 tillable acres from his father at age 7, and Kaleb Ellis built a custom farming business from a single silage truck.
Today, those starts have grown into four very different operations. Together, the finalists farm more than 660 acres of corn, soybeans, cereal rye, and hay. They raise 54,000 broilers every 30 days, finish up to 1,200 hogs a year, run a 28-sow show pig herd and boar stud, and manage a sheep flock built on artificial insemination and embryo transfer. Their customers include 4-H and FFA exhibitors from coast to coast, neighboring farmers, and Niman Ranch.
What they share is the habit of reinvesting. When they hit a down year, a crowded local market, or a sudden jump in acres, they answered by sharpening their genetics, marketing, or financial records. Each credits parents and FFA advisors for trusting them with real responsibility early, and each plans to stay in agriculture, through graduate study, a classroom of their own, or the family farm.
One of the four will be named American Star Farmer at the 99th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.
