One Black River FFA student has earned the Ohio AgriBusiness Association Agribusiness and
Production Systems Certification during the 2024-25 school year: Charlie Hollan.
The Ohio AgriBusiness Association provides an industry-recognized, agribusiness credential
that verifies high school student expertise in the areas of agriculture, agribusiness and
production systems. To be eligible for the program, a student must be enrolled in a career-
technical agricultural program and complete four required courses, where they are engaged in
learning and applying technical skills in foundational agricultural concepts.
Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE) – a student project that involves real world
agricultural activities done by students outside of the planned classroom and laboratory time –
are also integral in attaining the OABA credential. A student’s SAE must be an entrepreneurial,
placement or research-driven project pertaining to the agriculture industry with at least 500
hours of documented project work.
Over the past five years in the Black River Agricultural Education program, Hollan has
developed a diverse and well-rounded Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE). His job
placement experiences include working at Rain’s Showpigs, Geig’s Orchard, and Branchline
Farms. In addition, he has pursued several entrepreneurial ventures, raising and exhibiting
market hogs, lambs, poultry, steers, and goats. Charlie will continue his education this fall at
Ohio State ATI majoring in Agribusiness Management.