Most mornings, Kasey Clanton has already put in work before the first bell rings. There are calves to feed. Cows to check. Milk production to track. On a dairy farm, nothing pauses for a school schedule.

"Ever since I was probably at least four or five, I've been helping out on the farm," the Vandalia junior said. "Every single morning and night. Well, except for like school days."

The Clanton family milks around 125 cows on a farm Kasey's grandfather established in the 1970s. Three generations in. His parents and grandparents were all in FFA. His younger brother, a freshman, works the farm too. The division of labor is simple and daily: Kasey feeds the calves, his mom milks, his dad feeds the older cows.

"Agriculture has been my whole entire life," he said.

That life recently earned Kasey first place in the state of Illinois in Dairy Entrepreneurship through FFA — an achievement that required far more than just showing up. The competition asks students to run their operations like a business: maintaining detailed record books tracking feed costs, milk production, vaccination schedules, and livestock inventory, all managed through an app. Then you go to districts and state and sit for an interview where judges evaluate both your records and your ability to explain them.

Kasey won. He's not especially loud about it.

The dairy operation itself is the kind of work most people never see. Unlike row-crop farming, which follows seasonal rhythms, dairy demands consistency every single day. The animals don't take holidays. Neither does Kasey.

What he does talk about with noticeable specificity is genetics. The family uses artificial insemination, purchasing straws from studs across the U.S. and Canada, selecting for quality and production. Breeding decisions aren't guesswork — you study the pedigree.

"You always got to look down farther," he said. "Like the grand dam of the cow, trying to figure out if you got the right bull to use."

That kind of thinking — patient, forward-looking, grounded in data — runs through everything Kasey does on the operation. His father has spent years judging dairy cattle at competitions, including the national dairy show in Louisville, Kentucky. Watching that sparked something in Kasey.

"Part of me wants to go toward the judging side of things," he said. "Maybe go to college for judging or something like that."

But the other part of him isn't going anywhere.

"I also want to return back to the farm," he said.

At school, Kasey keeps his world similarly focused. He does Building Trades through Okaw — practical skills that translate directly to farm maintenance. He played football when he was younger, but FFA took over. His favorite teacher is Mrs. Kuhns, who teaches agriculture and is, in his words, "one of my favorite teachers in this building."

He's not a kid who talks for the sake of talking. Most of his answers come in a few words. But there's nothing uncertain about the direction. Kasey Clanton knows where he's going. He's been walking toward it since he was four years old, every morning and every night, on a farm that's been in his family for half a century.

When asked what he'll remember most about Vandalia years from now, his answer had nothing to do with awards.

"Probably all the people in the school," he said. "All the new kids coming in, and then some of the older ones that graduated. I made some good friends."

For a young man whose life is measured in early mornings and long days, that says enough.