During the month of April, the Radio Oklahoma Ag Network and Oklahoma Farm Report are spotlighting the 19 Area Stars of Oklahoma FFA, who are among the highest achievers in the organization.
The stars come from the five areas in four categories – Star in Ag Placement, Star in Agriscience, Star in Agribusiness, and Star in Agricultural Production.
This week, we spotlight the five area stars in Agribusiness in 2025.
One Star Finalist featured in the coming days from each of the categories will be named the State Star Award Winner during the 99th Oklahoma State FFA Convention, which will take place on May 6th and 7th in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
This week, our coverage of the 2025 Oklahoma FFA Star Award Finalists continues with Agribusiness competitor Hayden Taylor of the Ketchum FFA chapter representing the Northeast Area.
“My SAE started in the midst of COVID-19,” Taylor explained. “I sell high-quality cuts of beef. That is something that I noticed not a lot of people did, and I noticed that during COVID-19, there wasn’t… well, we all noticed the shortage of toilet paper. There was also a lack of beef in the supermarkets.”
He needed a project that would profit, but allow him the freedom to play sports, and seeing the need, he began this project in the eighth grade. He buys weaned steers, raises them for about 150 days, and feeds them out to processing. He then sells both retail and wholesale cuts of beef and prides himself on producing high-quality cuts with no synthetic additives before or after processing.
Taylor comes from a long line of FFA members, which bolstered him into his own FFA tenure. “I’m so glad that they pushed me into it,” he admitted. “That way, I can do all of the things I do, such as ag sales and livestock judging – whatever it may be – that has really helped me grow as a person. To see that is what really got me involved.”
He plans to continue his project while attending Oklahoma State University IT to major in powerplant technology, and later hopes to have his own storefront to market his product from.
Hear KC’s full conversation with Hayden Taylor by clicking on the Listen Bar above.
Your coverage of the 2025 Oklahoma FFA Convention is sponsored by Hilliary Communications, who deliver the latest cutting-edge communications services supporting tens of thousands of customers across 22 counties throughout Oklahoma, Texas, and Iowa. The company offers internet, voice, and HilliaryTV. Hilliary Communications continuously researches the marketplace for innovations and strives to improve underserved areas, offering services that exceed customer expectations. Click here to learn more about Hilliary Communications.
For more information about the 99th Oklahoma State FFA Convention, click here.
