Deep in corn and cattle country, Carson Reiman has struck Yukon Gold, now this young potato farmer shows leadership can grow anywhere.
This month’s Ag Achiever of the Month is Carson Reiman, the new Nebraska State FFA President from Gothenburg.
From his first exposure to FFA in 8th grade, Reiman set a goal of becoming a state officer. In the meantime, he built his business, Reiman Spuds.
“I’ve got about an acre of potatoes, and I weed and water those pretty much all summer, and then I harvest roughly fifteen thousand pounds of potatoes off of it every fall,” he said.
Whether you mash, bake, fry, or roast those potatoes – first he has to get your attention.
“I bought a fifty‑dollar Mr. Potato Head blow‑up costume, so now standing outside of sales and whatnot, there’ll be a Mr. Potato Head on the corner. I like to have a little bit of fun with my marketing,” he said.
That creativity doesn’t stop in the field. Carson is also an accomplished speaker. Those skills were put to the test during state FFA week, that this year overlapped with state speech in Kearney.
“Thursday night after the proficiency awards, my dad and I loaded up and headed back to Kearney about midnight. And the next day I was up at six getting extemp work done,” he told the Rural Radio Network.
You see, Carson didn’t find out he’d been selected as State FFA President on the convention stage, he found out on a Zoom screen, and then went right back to delivering his next speech as Gothenburg took home hardware at state speech.
“I came off an extemp round, got the announcement, and then after that, I went and gave my last final speech for that day,” he told us, explaining he gave that speech then had a chance to celebrate.
Back in Lincoln, he connected with the state officer team, his new best friends who will spend the next year serving Nebraska FFA, where his vision is to empower students to try new things.
“I really think that in all of this, especially talking to the FFA members out there, this next year, I’d encourage you to try some new things, get out of your comfort zone, and try and do something new, because FFA has got so many opportunities. And I think the more young people that are in this program, the more successful will be overall as a state,” he said.
For Carson, the beauty of ag education and FFA is how it combines classroom knowledge with hands-on experience, while gaining leadership skills.
“I really think you get both sides of it. Obviously, with the SAE and the FFA experience, you get to be outside, you get to work with your hands, and you get to learn how to do those things firsthand. But then the classroom really sets you up to have success in those hands‑on experiences. If you can understand it on paper, when you try and put it into practice, it comes out a lot easier,” he said.
Carson Reiman is proof that leadership grows wherever you’re willing to put in the work.
Ag achiever of the month: because the future of Nebraska is already hard at work, presented to you by the Nebraska Soybean Board.
