Achieve the Dream SUPPORT FROM FRIENDS Helps

Berkeley County, WV

Award winner Tyler Butts, Berkeley County, West Virginia, discovered his agricultural passion at the county fair. “I wasn’t born on a farm,” Tyler shares. “Friends in agricultural organizations allowed me to keep my 4-H and FFA animals at their farms. Everybody helped me figure out a way to pursue my dream. Those were the people that I wanted to surround myself with and who I wanted to be.”

Fast forward, life has come full-circle for Tyler, a 10-year agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor at Spring Mills High School, Martinsburg, WV. In 2015, his family purchased a 100 acre farm to run beef cattle; Tyler and his family also began housing project animals for kids in the county.

“My FFA chapter includes kids from both farms and towns,” says Tyler. “But many of our farms are now housing developments.” Nestled 40 minutes from the Washington, D.C. metro area, the county has experienced explosive growth, earning “fastest growing county on the East Coast” honors.

To extend educational opportunities for his 65 FFA members, Tyler plans to use his award money to design and build a new cattle corral system. “I want to teach cattle handling and management to the kids on the farm,” Tyler explains. “The new system will be safe for others and efficient for us.”

“Friends in agricultural organizations allowed me to keep my 4-H and FFA animals at their farms. Everybody helped me figure out a way to pursue my dream. Those were the people that I wanted to surround myself with and who I wanted to be.”

— Tyler Butts

Thirty-five Angus and Simmental brood cows rotationally graze on Antram Farm. The family also sells embryos direct from two donor cows and raises some of the embryos for fair show circuit calves. With the remaining award money, Tyler wants to improve the cattle’s winter feeding area, preventing and reducing run-off on the farm.

Tyler reminds other aspiring farmers to never lose their passion. “This industry can be trying,” he acknowledges. “Remember why you got involved.”

The Farmers on the Rise program helped Tyler remember his why. “I enjoyed meeting all the finalists,” Tyler notes. “None of us came from the same walk of life and yet we all shared the same passion for agriculture. I was blown away.”