Fourth-grader Elli Rettler from Tri-County Elementary School was chosen as the winner of the Ag in the Classroom’s annual essay contest. This year’s winning paper took a different perspective than normal, Rettler wrote as if she was a soybean. “Our jobs as seeds have only started, and whether we stay in Wisconsin or move across the ocean, we’re in high demand,” the essay reads. This year the contest brought in 1,461 essays from across the state. Below is the winning essay from Elli.
Sassy Soybean Fuels Wisconsin’s Economy and Beyond
Hi! I’m Miss Sassy Soybean Seed. I am a single bean among approximately 100 million
bushels of soybeans harvested in Wisconsin each year!
Like many of my relatives and friends, I know my potential!! We soybeans (and our
ancestors) start out with stored energy in our protective seed coat, and in a large bag. From
there, some awesome farmer buys us, plants us, harvests us, and sells us. With just that
much, we’ve already fueled Wisconsin’s economy.
Just think about the people we keep busy! There’s the soybean seed salesperson, the office
workers who keep orders straight, orders more seed, and keeps track of the bills and
payment, the warehouse people who unload and load the seed, the trucker who delivers the
seed, the fuel man and mechanic who keeps trucks running, and the farmer. All these people
earn money and spend money! That’s fueling Wisconsin!
Our jobs as seeds have only started, and whether we stay in Wisconsin or move across the
ocean, we’re in high demand. Some of us are used in making ink, crayons, oil, tofu, biodiesel
fuel, animal food, milk, tires, and many other products. Can you imagine all of the jobs that
are part of making, selling, and using these products? One use that surprised me is that more
than 90 percent of America’s daily newspapers use soy ink. Now, that’s a lot of reading!
Henry Ford certainly was not “full of beans” in his thinking and inventing. Almost a century
ago, he knew we soybeans were special and he proved it. Researchers are still proving we
have even more potential. I’m very proud of what we soybeans do. I love helping
Wisconsinites and people around the world, sassy or not!
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