FFA chapters turn hay bales into cash for the annual Krone Battle of the Bales contest. Each fall, chapters decorate hay and straw bales to compete for prize money. Entries are judged on eye appeal, creativity, construction and use of materials.
Click through the slideshow to view the winners of the 2021 Battle of the Bales contest.
Members of the Bedford County FFA Chapter in Pennsylvania created a minion shepherd from two stacked hay bales accompanied by three hay bale sheep for their first-place display. Bedford County FFA advisor Scott Myers says they got the idea from a light display their chapter created in 2020 that included a nativity scene with minions for Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus.
“It took about four hours to prepare the components of the display and then about two more hours to build the scene,” Myers says. “Over 15 FFA members had a hand in creating our display. Our biggest challenge was creating the arms and attaching them to the hay bales.”
FFA members shared lots of laughs as they were building the amusing display. “It provides members with a sense of community pride,” Myers says. “We posted pictures on social media – our supporters have been kind and positive.”
In Bellville, Ohio, 55 members of the Clear Fork FFA Chapter created a festive hay bale display featuring Santa Claus and a Christmas tree, both made from three round bales. The bales were donated by local Whatman Farms, and FFA members used about $350 worth of paint and supplies to create their hay bale masterpiece.
“This activity has been an excellent tool to educate the public about the importance of agriculture and its contribution to the local economy,” says Clear Fork FFA advisor Adam Staley. “Our display is situated on our land lab. It is really cool to see families stop and take photos of their children in front of the display with crops raised by our chapter in the background.” Staley says the Ohio Department of Transportation confirmed that on average, 7,489 vehicles drove by their hay bale display every day. Each car represents an opportunity to advocate for agriculture, he says.
Tenth grade FFA members Kaden Guenther and Beau Cota of Bellevue, Iowa, were instrumental in creating the award-winning hay bale train. Both boys work for a local dairy farmer who donated the hay bales as well as the bale wrap for their display. “We painted the words ‘We Deliver the Future’ on the locomotive part in front of the train because it looks like it is delivering the bales,” Guenther says.
About 15 FFA members and officers were involved in creating the train display. “Our woodshop teacher helped us cut out all the train wheels and the front piece of the train from wood,” Cota says. “The best part was seeing it all completed and seeing our community’s reaction to it. Our display is located right next to a main road in our town. Our whole community can see it, and they think it's really neat.”
FFA members from Sugar Valley Rural Charter School (SVRCS) in Loganton, Pa., took an educational approach when designing their hay bale display. They stacked square bales and painted a map of the United States, depicting how much money each region generates from hay production. “Krone is a forage company so a lot of its equipment deals with hay, and that’s how we got the idea for it,” says senior SVRCS FFA member Lily Conoway. “We painted each region in different colors so people could see them from the road.”
Senior SVRCS FFA member Marina Liddic says a lot of research and math went into designing their display. “We all definitely learned a lot. We used 11 cans of spray paint, and the whole thing took us four or five days to complete,” Liddic says. “I like being creative, so the painting part was fun.” 2021 was the chapter’s third year entering the contest, and its second time to place. “It's fun coming up with an idea for the competition. Since it is right next to the road, it catches a lot of eyes,” Conoway says.
