When he was just old enough to walk, Joan Tovar-Martinez, a member of the Sumter County High School FFA Chapter in Georgia, started riding in a tractor cab with his dad at Minor Brothers Farms. Though he didn’t intend to pursue a career in agriculture, Tovar-Martinez was hired at the farm when he was 15 and started working there part-time after school. His role quickly expanded to helping the farm grow 25,000 acres of corn and other crops, including cotton, peanuts, squash and cabbage.
“During corn harvest, I manage the grain facility where the corn is brought in,” says Tovar-Martinez, now 18 and a senior who will graduate in May. “I control the dryer and keep up with truck logs. During planting, I sometimes operate the planter and manage irrigation. This year, I’m getting my pesticide license so I can operate the sprayer also.”
Tovar-Martinez used his work at Minor Brothers Farms to create a highly successful supervised agricultural experience (SAE). In October 2022, he was named the National FFA Grain Production Proficiency Award winner at the 95th National FFA Convention & Expo. It was his first time participating in the proficiency award process, and Tovar-Martinez was the first student in the history of Sumter County High School FFA to reach the national level in any proficiency award category.
“We are extremely proud of him. As soon as his name was announced, both of us were in shock. I had to shove him out there to center stage to stand on that platform,” says Ben Pope, Sumter County FFA advisor. “Joan is a living testament of a student taking advantage of every opportunity FFA offers.”
When Pope first met Tovar-Martinez in 2020, he was a shy, reserved student, not the type of FFA member who would compete at the national level.
“I watched him start to change and grow. Going through the proficiency process has developed him into a student leader,” Pope says. “These opportunities allow students to change the trajectory of their lives. At national convention, I watched Joan approach people from other states and start conversations, and I’d never seen him do that before. As advisors, that’s what we want. We want them to be in a better place when they leave us.”
Tovar-Martinez plans to study precision agriculture at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Ga. His goal is to make agricultural technology more accessible to farmers in rural areas.
“Working at Minor Brothers Farms, I learned how ag technology makes farming more efficient, like managing irrigation from my mobile device,” Tovar-Martinez says. “I can be home at night and turn the irrigation off on my phone. I also use an app from John Deere to keep track of moisture levels in the field to make sure I’m drying the corn at an accurate level. I want to be in the precision ag field so I can help farmers implement new technology.”
His grandfather brings workers from Mexico to work on farms in south Georgia through the H-2A labor program, and Tovar-Martinez hopes to start a similar business.
Tovar-Martinez credits his success to the adults who helped him along the way and to “being fully committed” to his SAE.
“Give it your all. I didn’t know how huge of an impact my SAE would have on me,” he says. “I want to thank my parents, our community, and the faculty of Ignite College and Career Academy and Sumter County High School who supported me, did practice interviews with me, gave me feedback and took time to advise me.”
Find more SAE ideas and inspiration at saeforall.org.
