Leah Hefty enjoyed taking her animals to a local nursing home to offer residents the joy of visiting with her. But the cost of hay to feed her animals was always a concern. Entertaining as they were to watch and pet, the animals needed to eat. But instead of looking at their food expense as an obstacle, the Auburn, Ind., resident saw it as an opportunity to find a solution.
She soon began working with her FFA advisor and created a supervised agriculture experience (SAE) that challenged her to find a more cost-effective feed alternative to hay.
Her research has earned her top honors of being named a 2017 Star Finalist in Agriscience.
An idea came to her when she realized her uncle had a problem with an overabundance of algae growing in his pond. “He was going to kill it off, but I saw potential,” Hefty says. “I figured there has to be something that you can do with this algae to make it useful.”
So she collected some of the algae and let it dry. Then she carefully measured and mixed different ratios of algae with hay to feed her goats. She wanted to see if it was palatable as well as nutritious for them. Through her project she proved that the algae was, in fact, palatable to the goats, and verified that they were getting all of their nutritional needs met.
“Algae seems to grow anywhere, which is good for a project like this,” Hefty says, “But it’s bad when you don’t want algae around.” Hefty points out that with hay, you have to wait for it to grow a certain height before cutting, baling and storing it. But with algae, she has a steady supply.
“You harvest it, and as need be, let it dry,” she says. “Algae can be added on an as-needed basis.” (It takes less than 24 hours to dry, if it is a thin layer.)
She says FFA and her agricultural education classes taught her the value of persistence. “Once you start a project, there’s always going to be little bumps in the road, and there’s always going to be little events, especially when dealing with plants and animals.”
Hefty takes great pride in her projects and the fact that they can be implemented on a community-wide scale. “I never did a project that I thought would only benefit me or just a small group of people,” Hefty says. “I always made sure that my projects could benefit my community as a whole, especially those who don’t completely understand agriculture.”
Hefty is the daughter of Danielle and Michah. She is a member of the DeKalb FFA Chapter, led by advisor Matt Dice.
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