Mums, Mowers, Hooves, and a Secret Recipe: Meet the 2026 American Star in Agribusiness Finalists
2026 Star in Agribusiness Finalists
The American Star in Agribusiness award recognizes the top American FFA Degree recipient whose supervised agricultural experience centers on owning and operating an agricultural business. These 4 finalists have identified a need in their communities, built a business to meet it, and grown it through careful management of customers, finances, and risk. These videos tell the story of each finalist’s business. The winner will be named on stage at the 99th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.
3:48Ben Biros Star Agribusiness Finalist
3:12Luke Schilling Star Agribusiness Finalist
3:20Wesley Winch Star in Agribusiness Finalist
3:13Jose Yepez Star Agribusiness Finalist
The Finalists
- Benjamin Biros, Seneca FFA, Illinois
- Luke Schilling, Eastern Hancock FFA, Indiana
- Wesley Winch, Fennimore FFA, Wisconsin
- Jose Yepez, Greenville FFA, Texas
What They Have Built
None of this year’s Agribusiness finalists started with a big plan. Benjamin Biros took over a mum business as a sixth grader, hand-drilling 600 pots. Luke Schilling answered a youth pastor’s fundraising challenge by selling his grandfather’s seasoning recipe. Wesley Winch started helping a hoof trimmer a couple of days a week when the COVID-19 pandemic left him bored at home. Jose Yepez mowed a neighbor’s lawn to save money for college.
Each idea became a real business. Biros now grows more than 2,000 mums a year, more than 12,000 in all, and sells most of them directly to more than 1,000 customers each fall. Schilling, making Big Doug’s Secret Seasoning in a health-certified kitchen, created a nonprofit, Season the Day, which sends all proceeds to charities including World Vision, Compassion International, FFA, and 4-H. Winch went from trimming 1 or 2 cows a day with a manual chute to 50 to 100 a day with a hydraulic, remote-controlled chute. Yepez leads a four-person team that serves about 100 lawn care clients a week and completes 1 to 3 landscape projects a week, designed in 3D for each client.
They share a knack for scaling up, whether that meant a website and farmers markets, bigger equipment, or a second crew. Each also credits parents and FFA advisors who handed them more responsibility over time. Their next steps range from a career in broadcast meteorology to a finance degree, and Biros is already passing his mum business to his younger brother.
One of the four will be named American Star in Agribusiness at the 99th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.
