SHOW NOTES

INTRODUCING MACKENZIE FISH! 

Our guest today has a fun, fascinating and inspiring story.  Mackenzie Fish was looking for a way to participate in agriculture from her home in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.  She also loves to fish, and she was looking for a way to combine both things.

After conducting some research Mackenzie came across the art of raising worms, and she decided to give it a try.  She initially wanted to raise them in her home but was relegated to a shed because of the possibility of the worms escaping into the house.  That parental wisdom turned out to be correct, and during the learning process of raising worms Mackenzie experienced a large scale escape event in the shed.

Today, Mackenzie has come up with a business name and motto: “Fish’s Worms – Let A Fish Bait Your Hook”!  She has her own business, and she has found a way to work in the world of fishing and agriculture.

She has also discovered other markets, selling worms to reptile owners.  In addition to all of that she has found that worm casings have great agricultural applications, and she is exploring that further.  And, she is starting a business raising and selling minnows to compliment what she has been doing with worms.  What a fascinating story.

SUPERVISED AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE: Worm Production And Sales

HIGH SCHOOL: Central Columbia High School; Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania

MASCOT: Blue Jays

FFA ADVISOR: Douglas Brown

CONTACT INFORMATION FOR MACKENZIE: Click on the picture below to be taken to the Central Columbia High School website:

Mackenzie’s FFA Advisors’ Email Addresses: dbrown@ccsd.cc

Central Columbia High School’s Telephone Number: 570-784-2850

FFA LINKS:

National FFA Organization

Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE’s)

Support FFA 

Donate to FFA – One way that FFA students are able to start small businesses is through an FFA grant of $1,000.  In 2014, 141 FFA students received these grants.  With your donations, more students can get this head start – pay it forward.

REASONS TO DONATE TO FFA:

• Only 2% of Americans grow and raise most of the food and livestock consumed by the other 98% as well as the rest of the world.  FFA is providing the needed education, training and resources to Americans that will carry that torch forward and insure that America continues to have inexpensive, quality food.
• Rural Communities will rely on entrepreneurship in the future for population growth and job creation.  The FFA is a major catalyst to that entrepreneurial growth.
• Farmers, ranchers and those working in agriculture give the rest of America incredible amounts of freedom because the search for food is as simple as going to the grocery store:

“Because American farmers are able to provide for so many of us, they give more and more of us the freedom to pursue goals and livelihoods beyond growing the food we need to survive.”

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack 

Where Off-Farm Income And Matt Brechwald Can Be Heard:

Member Of The National Association Of Farm Broadcasters