AKRON, Iowa (KELO) — A local high schooler has found a way to brighten up the landscape in northwest Iowa.
Ben Philips spent his summer caring for his three-and-a-half-acre sunflower patch as part of his FFA Supervised Agriculture Experience project. Since this was his first time growing this commodity, he had a lot to learn.
This sea of yellow is not something you typically see in the northwest Iowa landscape. But, after hearing about the success his aunt had with the crop, FFA member Ben Philips decided to take on the challenge of growing sunflowers for his SAE project.
“One was just obviously getting them, making sure how to plant them, we could plant them, all that, making sure they grow. Then timing it out so this wouldn’t be during school or fair week, we do that,” said Philips.
“This teaches a lot of life skills, they have to do record keeping, they have to make sure that they are responsible for their own projects and everything that goes into it and then they get the opportunity to take this to the state fair level with state degrees for FFA,” said Jacee Hogue, ag teacher at Akron-Westfield.
Not only has this given him a good background in growing and producing sunflowers, but he’s also opened the patch up to the community, giving people a chance to come in, take some pictures and learn more about his sunflowers.
“Oh, just another thing to go do, there’s kind of limited a little bit up here and just something fun to go walk through,” said Lindsay Anderson, visitor.
“I’m hoping that they gain just a life experience from this like because you know this is not something you do every year, out of the ordinary I guess,” said Philips.
An idea blossoming into a reality.
“From hearing him talk about it a few months ago at his interviews to driving by, seeing the sign, and seeing them pop up as they grew, it’s been really exciting. I knew this was going to be an awesome opportunity,” said Hogue.
“Seeing the sunflowers grow and just like knowing that that’s something that I planted and that like I made happen,” said Philips.
It is the end of the season, so he is planning to be open today and possibly tomorrow. You can stay updated on the project through their Facebook page.