Five FFA students from Lincoln County ranked first through third place in three different categories at the 2025 Oklahoma FFA Proficiency Awards during the 99th Oklahoma FFA Convention on May 7, according to press releases from the Oklahoma FFA Association.
Bailey Faires from Stroud FFA placed first in Small Animal Production and Care, while Brance Wells, also from Stroud FFA, placed first in Turf and Landscape Maintenance.
Christian Moehle from Chandler FFA placed second in Turf and Landscape Maintenance.
Brynna Raines from Meeker FFA earned third place in Small Animal Production and Care, while Wyatt Dulaney of Stroud FFA placed third in Agricultural Processing.
Faires, a senior, is the daughter of Roland and Pat Faires. She runs Faire Ranch Dogs, where she raises English bulldogs and dachshunds. Currently, she has three mature bulldog females, one bulldog stud, four mature dachshund females and one dachshund stud. Faires began the project in 2013 with a miniature dachshund female and received an English bulldog in 2019, according to the press release.
“Meeting new people and learning different methods and practices has helped me evolve and enhance my program,” Faires said.
Wells, also a senior, is the son of James and Kayla Wells. He has worked for Stroud Public Schools during the summer since 2022, helping with installing and maintaining outdoor landscapes. He helped with mowing, weed eating, and maintaining systems such as the sprinklers. Wells worked on 10 different sites, was a member of several task forces, and was promoted to student crew leader in 2024, the press release said.
“As a student crew leader, my responsibilities within my team include sharing safety strategies while operating machinery,” Wells said.
The small animal production and care proficiency recognizes students with supervised agricultural experiences in using best management practices to produce and market small pet animals. This includes rabbits, cats, dogs, mice, hedgehogs, guinea pigs, lizards, snakes and small birds. It also includes programs that provide services for the well-being of pets, such as working at a pet store, groomer, dog trainer, pet sitting, working at a kennel or training guide and assistance animals.
Turfandlandscapemaintenanceproficiencyrecognizes students with experience related to maintaining plants and shrubs, landscaping, grounds keeping, sprinkler repair or maintenance, lawn mowing and care services, and sports field or golf course maintenance.
Agricultural processing proficiency recognizes students involved in activities related to agricultural processing, working in assembling, transporting, processing, fabricating, mixing, packaging and storing both food and non-food agricultural products.