FFA awards Star Award to Chester County resident

JACKSON, Tenn. — Farming is not for everyone, but for this FFA award winner, it’s in his genes.

18-year-old Will Kemp received the 2024 Future Farmers of America Star Award.

Kemp says he competed in the regional competition to be considered for the state competition.

“I’ve been farming for four years full-time and I had to put that in my interview. Then I went and won the regional with my interview and my application. Then I went and just re-did my application, did a bunch more interviews and won that one,” said Kemp.

He submitted his applications through the Chester County FFA along with a 25-page paper.

“Ms. Crouse, my FFA advisor, she knew that I always wanted to be the star farmer so this year, my senior year, we decided we were going to try to do it. We never figured that we would win the state,” said Kemp.

Kemp says it feels amazing to have this award and that others should understand the importance of farming.

“A lot of people think their food just comes from a grocery store and they don’t think that it comes actually from a farm and gets sprayed and harvested and trucked to the grocery store or to the warehouses. They just think that it grows in the store,” said Kemp.

Right now, he farms 400 acres of land.

He also cuts about 500 acres of hay and tends about to 10 to 15 acres of produce every year.

He sells most of his products to granaries in his area.

One specifically being his parents local business.

“My parents own R&J Feed so that gives me a really good outlet to sell bagged corn. It also gives me a really good outlet to sell produce because I can take five-hundred ears of corn down there each week during the summer and sell it all week long,” said Kemp.

Kemp also told us that he likes to collect and restore antique John Deere tractors.

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