INDIANAPOLIS — Nebraska FFA State President Carson Reiman of the Gothenburg FFA Chapter has earned a national championship in prepared public speaking at the 99th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.
“Well, it sounds pretty great, Steve, I’ll be honest with you,” Reiman told Rural Radio Network’s Steve White following his victory Thursday.
Reiman earned the national title with a speech focused on electronic identification, or EID, tags for cattle and their potential role in improving animal disease traceability.
“My speech this year was on EID tags, so electronic identification for cattle, and how we can use that as part of a nationwide database to make sure that we have effective disease traceability within the United States,” Reiman said.
The Prepared Public Speaking Leadership Development Event requires FFA members to research an agricultural topic, prepare and deliver a speech, and respond to questions from judges.
Reiman said the quality of the competition makes winning the national title particularly meaningful.
“Every single time I walk into one of those rooms, Steve, I don’t know how those judging individuals do it,” Reiman said. “That is just, that’s the best competition you’ll see.”
He credited his high school speech coach, Kaitlyn Clark, with helping him develop the presentation.
Reiman said Clark provided an outline that helped him organize his thesis and main points. From there, the work shifted to practicing his delivery.
“After that, though, came the practice, and doing the practice for me usually involves a lot of pacing,” Reiman said. “I like to walk around a lot, and so in a couple weeks before national convention, you can find me around the halls of the dorm at UNL, just pacing around, talking to myself.”
The national championship adds to Reiman’s record of public speaking accomplishments. He previously competed in Creed Speaking at the national level and won the Nebraska FFA state extemporaneous public speaking championship in 2025.
Reiman’s week at the national convention is not finished.
He is also a national agricultural proficiency award finalist in vegetable production for his supervised agricultural experience, Reiman Spuds, a potato-growing business he started near Gothenburg.
Rural Radio Network coverage made possible by the Nebraska FFA Foundation and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.