Jacob Davis (right), executive director for the Alabama Peanut Producers Association, congratulates Dyllan Lee on being runner-up of the Fiber and/or Oil Production Proficiency Award.
Dyllan Lee of Enterprise FFA is the runner-up of the 2019 Alabama FFA Fiber and/or Oil Crop Production State Proficiency Award. Lee works for Walden Farms, a 3,500-acre farm in Dale County.
Lee, the son of Christy and Brad Lee, began working on his supervised agricultural experience (SAE) in 2016. Lee’s main responsibilities on the farm involve inverting peanuts, hauling peanuts, and raking peanut hay. In addition, he helps with routine equipment maintenance, which in turn, helps him have a good base knowledge of how each piece of equipment works.
He said his greatest challenge while working on his SAE was learning to be efficient with the peanut inverter.
“The difficult part for me was making sure I stayed exactly between the rows,” Lee said. “If I were not accurate, I would risk messing up the rows, or possibly leaving peanuts from getting inverted which would cause them to not be picked up later. This could cost Mr. Walden a significant amount of money.”
Lee said his dad and Mr. Walden always take opportunities when he makes mistakes to teach him the value of always doing a job correctly the first time and getting off to a good start.
One of Lee’s greatest accomplishments in his SAE was learning to properly use the Trimble GPS system. “Precision agriculture is a great example of how technology can improve agricultural practices,” Lee said. “Through the use of the Trimble GPS, the peanut inverting and planting process has been improved greatly, saving my employer money and time.”
Lee’s future plans include attending Auburn University to study Agricultural Business and Economics, and attending diesel mechanics school. He hopes to one day open his own tractor mechanic shop and farm on the side.
The 2019 Alabama FFA Fiber and/or Oil Crop Production Proficiency Award was sponsored by the Alabama Peanut Producers Association.
The Alabama Peanut Producers Association has been representing the interests of peanut growers through promotions, research and education programs since 1958.
FFA is a dynamic youth organization that changes lives and prepares members for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.