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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

A large group of Chilton County FFA students participated in the county’s FFA Zero-Turn Compact Tractor Driving and Safe Tractor Driving Contests on Nov. 6 at LeCory Career Technical Center. Students from Chilton County, Isabella, Jemison and Maplesville High Schools all competed in the contests with a spot in the central district eliminations on the line.

Both of the contests provide a competitive activity for FFA students to showcase their knowledge about the care and operation of zero-turn compact tractors with less than 20 horsepower. Also, the contest gives students a chance to improve their knowledge of lawn care and safety.

In the Safe Tractor Driving Contest, Maplesville senior Luke Gray held the steadiest hands and had the best tractor control to claim first place. The Safe Zero-Turn Compact Tractor Driving Contest had both a junior and senior division. In the senior division, Bradley “Lucky” Brown, a senior at Maplesville, took first place. Camden Day, a seventh grader at Isabella, won first place in the junior division of the contest.

According to the Alabama FFA handbook for the contests, the general purposes of the FFA Safe Tractor Driving Contests are to “(1) to provide competitive activities which reflect certain abilities and areas of emphasis needed in the education of the successful agriculturist; (2) to advance safety, skill and efficiency in the use of tractors and equipment; and (3) to give FFA members who are participating in the FFA Safe Tractor Driving Contest an opportunity to demonstrate their skill in operating a tractor and their knowledge of tractors.”

Brown, Day and Gray all advance to the Fall FFA Central District Eliminations on Nov. 13 following their first-place performances.