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Geneseo FFA students present harvest results; council unanimously renews cemetery plot lease
Summary
Students from the Geneseo FFA presented 2025 yields, insurance and production details and asked the council to renew their cemetery‑plot lease; the council approved a 2026 lease with automatic renewal for 2027 and cautioned that equipment must fit through cemetery gates.
Geneseo FFA students presented results from two school plots and secured City Council approval to renew the cemetery farm lease for 2026, with an automatic renewal for 2027 unless terminated by either party.
Payton Keys, a senior and co‑chair of the Geneseo FFA plot, and student co‑chairs Jackson Frank and Aiden Daly described the 2025 growing season. The middle‑school plot averaged about 80.3 bushels per acre; the cemetery plot averaged about 58.5 bushels per acre. The students described inputs, contractors and logistics: seed donated by Marty McManis, field work coordinated by Ross Dwire, fertilizer and pesticide plans, and harvest arrangements with local operators. They said they purchased crop insurance through Hanford Insurance and chose roughly 65% crop‑coverage to help cover a total‑loss scenario; they did not purchase hail coverage.
"We learned a lot about managing harvest proceeds and running the plot more student‑led," Payton Keys said during the presentation, noting the FFA's aim to use the plots to free up housing stock in town and provide hands‑on agricultural education.
City staff told the council the proposed lease includes a provision that all equipment must enter and exit through the cemetery gates; the administration also confirmed students identified equipment that can access the site. Councilmember Arnold moved to approve the lease and Councilmember Swanson seconded. A roll‑call vote recorded 'yes' from Rothschild, Barnhart, Swanson, James, Rudhouse, Samowski and Arnold; the motion carried unanimously.
The council did not change lease length or financial terms on the record; staff said the 2026 lease will automatically renew for 2027 unless terminated. Councilmembers praised the students' presentation and asked staff to note the gate/vehicle access requirement in the lease language. The meeting applause followed the students' presentation.
