DMACC Students Earn Top Honors at National Agricultural Conference

The DMACC chapter of the National Professional Agricultural Student Organization (PAS) is on a roll this spring.

After representing the college at the February state conference in Ankeny, and winning the "Premier Chapter Award," the group had a successful trip to the 2026 National PAS Conference, held March 9th to 12th in Branson, Missouri.

More than 550 students, faculty, and staff from more than 30 colleges and universities and 12 states attended the national conference.

DMACC brought 33 students, who represented the college's agribusiness, horticulture, and liberal arts programs.

Throughout the conference, students competed in Career Program Area (CPA) events. Specific to students' career areas of interests, CPA events improve members' self-confidence, leadership, and oral and written communications through competitive tasks requiring organization, information gathering, goal-setting, presentation, and time management.

Top-five finishes for DMACC's individual CPA entries included:

• Aubrey Roth of Saint Charles - 1st place, Ornamental Plant Production
• Kuenn Harder of Ames - 2nd place, Ornamental Plant Production
• Hannah Schilling of Bondurant - 4th place, Ornamental Plant Production
• Karlie Pettyjohn of Knoxville - 4th place, Career Planning Agricultural Education Systems; 4th place, Employment Interview Specialty Crop Production
• Caleb Johnson of Van Meter - 1st place, Career Planning Biotechnology Systems
• Jacob Halder of Fonda - 3rd place, Career Planning Plant Systems
• Stella Sayers of Marendo - 5th place, Career Planning Agribusiness Systems
• Ethan Mower of Urbandale - 2nd place, Employment Interview Forestry & Natural Resources
• Brady Streeter of New Virginia - 3rd place, Employment Interview Specialist Crop Production
• Caleb Van Essen of Pella - 5th place, Employment Interview Agriculture Equipment & Machinery
• Rylee Vohs of Moville - 3rd place, Impromptu Speaking

Top-five finishes for team categories:

• Ornamental Plant Production Team - 1st place
• Ornamental Plant Production Team - 3rd place
• Ornamental Plant Production Team - 5th place
• Sheep & Goat Team - 5th place
• Farm Business Management Team - 4th place

DMACC students also competed in the career progress, precision ag, agronomy, agricultural machinery, beef, dairy, swine, and college bowl CPA events during the conference.

Ethan Graber of Mount Pleasant served as a voting delegate for the business sessions, representing Iowa PAS. Anna German of Pella carried Iowa's state flag for the opening session. Throughout the conference, students engaged with sponsoring industry partners, listened to guest speakers, and networked with peers from other institutions.

The DMACC PAS chapter is led by student president Caleb Johnson and agribusiness faculty members Andrea Rouse and Emily Jensen, who serve as co-advisors. Horticulture faculty member Christina Riessen assists the chapter.

It was an all-hands-on-deck effort at the national conference, where Riessen served as the national CPA co-coordinator the horticulture team events, Rouse assisted with the administration of the Agronomy and Career Progress CPA events, and Jensen served as the national CPA coordinator for the Agriculture Marketing & Communications events.

Jensen was also elected to serve a one-year term as an Agriculture Education Faculty and Organization Representative on the National PAS Board of Directors.

To learn more about DMACC's Agriculture, Animals, and Natural Resources Pathway, visit the programs' webpages or attend an upcoming pathway visit day.