DMACC Students Excel at National Agricultural Conference

SHERIDAN, WY — DMACC students were saddled up for success when they ditched Spring Break in Iowa to journey out West for the 2025 National Professional Agricultural Student (PAS) conference, held March 16 to 20th at Sheridan College in Wyoming. 

Twenty-seven DMACC students attended, representing the college's agribusiness and horticulture programs by competing in Career Program Area (CPA) events. The various team and individual competitions are specific to students' career areas of interest, offering members opportunities to enhance and improve their self-confidence, leadership, oral and written communications, organization, information gathering, goal setting, presentation, and time management.

In total, 538 students, faculty and staff from 27 colleges and universities were also in attendance at the national conference. 

Top-five finishes for DMACC’s CPA entries included:

• Farm Business Management Team – 2^nd place
• Floriculture Team – 4^th place
• Swine Team – 3^rd place
• Jacob Fuller (Osceola) – 2^nd place, farm business management, 4^th place, employment interview
• Luke Van Essen (Pella) – 5^th place, farm business management
• Carter Olson (Ames) – 4^th place, floriculture
• Hannah Schilling (Bondurant) – 5^th place, floriculture
• Max Havlik (Madrid) – 4^th place, landscape
• Nathan Lynch (Boone) – 5^th place, swine
• Katie Bryant (Aurelia) – 4^th place, agricultural promotion & marketing
• Alexis Cochrane (Bennett) – 4^th place, career planning
• Amanda Ostrem (Stanhope) – 2^nd place, career progress & 2^nd place, prepared speaking
• Lillian Bru (Gladbrook) – 5^th place, impromptu speaking