Special Report

Wisconsin cranberry farmer is FFA Star in Placement

Trenton Bemis of Humbird, Wisconsin, won the FFA American Star in Agricultural Placement. Bemis works for the same cranberry packing company where his grandfather has worked for 55 years and his father has worked for 25 years. The younger Bemis is going on five years with the Edlen Cranberry Company.

“It’s a lot of hard work and long hours, and it’s really labor intensive,” Bemis told Brownfield Ag News, “but I enjoy doing it every day, I enjoy being outside and that’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

Bemis, one of four FFA Star winners nationally, looks forward to a future packing cranberries for Ocean Spray. He credits the FFA for getting him to where he is.

“I’ve learned so much just in high school from all the ag classes that I’ve taken,” said Bemis. “I highly suggest kids get involved with FFA and take ag classes because it’s definitely benefited my career working on the cranberry marsh. Taking ag mechanics class and learning how to weld and things like that; these skills are very valuable to a young individual.”

In 2011, Bemis won a national FFA proficiency award for his work in cranberry production.