Tokay, Reedley and Foothill emerged as state champions at the Mid-Winter State FFA Finals and Field Day held Saturday (Feb. 7) at California State University, Fresno.

More than 130 FFA members from throughout the state participated in career development events sponsored by Fresno State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology at the university’s Farm Laboratory on campus.

FFA members competed for the state title in one of three events: grape vine-pruning, fruit tree pruning and citrus judging contests.

Tokay FFA is the state champion team in the grape vine-pruning contest. Second place went to Kingsburg FFA and third was Paso Robles FFA.

Gary Valente from the Tokay FFA chapter was the first high individual in grape vine-pruning.

The Reedley FFA chapter is the state champion fruit tree-pruning team. Second place went to the Righetti FFA chapter and third to Dinuba FFA.

Adrian Arguilles from the Righetti FFA chapter was the first high individual in fruit tree-pruning.

In the citrus judging contewww.fresnostatenews.comstate champion team. Second place went to Lemoore FFA while third was won by the Porterville FFA chapter. Jesse Garcia from Foothill FFA was the first high individual in citrus judging.

The Foothill FFA chapter earned first place in the citrus judging- B contest. Second place went to the B- team from the Exeter FFA chapter and third to Lemoore FFA.

Ashley Ryea from the Foothill was the first high individual in citrus judging- B.

The event, coordinated by the College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and the FFA Field Day student committee, was sponsored by Sunkist Growers, Corona Clipper Company and Sandvick Saws and Tools Company.

The College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and the FFA Field Day student committee hosts 18 state FFA finals contests annually. Approximately 3,000 students attend these events each year.

FFA is a national youth organization of 457,278 student members, 57,000 of them are located in California, where they are preparing for leadership and careers in the fields of agricultural science, business and technology. FFA strives to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agriculture education.