Michael K receives SAE grant money to restore tractor

View full story at Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Facebook page

Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and FUSA Insurance Agency cooperatively sponsor two SAE grants each year for Colorado FFA students willing to push themselves to propose and complete a supervised hands-on learning project.

Recipients of this year’s SAE grants are Kylie Jones of Otis and Michael Kissell of Peetz. Jones will use her grant to take her cupcake decorating talents to the next level. Kissel will restore a 1961 Ford tractor that has years of family history behind it.

Jones began decorating cakes in 2016, inspired by an aunt who did cake decorating for 4-H. She plans to expand her business and will take a class in February to earn a cottage food license as the next step in this venture.

RMFU President Dr. Dale McCall also sponsors an annual Heifer Wrangle grant to support an FFA student interested in the beef industry. Rylan Herrera of McClave accepted the grant for this year.

All the awards were made during the National Western Livestock Show.

Students in these programs are required to send regular updates to sponsors and make presentations on the results of their efforts at the state FFA convention. In addition, the heifer program requires participation at the Colorado State Fair.

Shown in the group photo are (from left) FUSA Insurance Agency General Manager Kyle Bradley, Kylie Jones, Colorado FFA President Ashlynn Ochsner, Michael Kissell, RMFU's Director of External Affairs Nick Levendofsky and Executive Director Ben Rainbolt. The next photo is of Rylan Herrera and Ashlynn Ochsner.