How North Ed FFA Simplified Its Annual Plant Sale

Finding a Better Way to Run the Plant Sale

Brian Matchett has spent his career helping students find their path through agricultural education.

After earning a degree in agricultural education from Michigan State University, followed by a master’s in agriculture and extension education, Brian began teaching in 2003. Today, he serves as an Agriscience Instructor at a Career Tech Center in Northwest Michigan, where students come from high schools across five counties.

Through the program and its FFA chapter, students build leadership skills, gain hands-on experience, and explore possible career paths in agriculture.

One of North Ed FFA’s biggest projects is its annual plant sale. Students help grow and care for the plants, making the sale a natural extension of what they are already learning in the classroom. The money raised goes right back into student programs and projects.

Before Cheddar Up, managing the sale took a lot more work. The program originally relied on cash sales, then tried other tools that were not built for selling a large variety of products. Brian also used Google Forms and spreadsheets, which meant checking orders throughout the day and manually keeping tabs on inventory.

After a colleague at another Michigan career tech center recommended Cheddar Up for their agriculture club, North Ed FFA moved its plant sale fundraiser online. That made it easier to organize the sale and gave the chapter a way to reach customers beyond those who simply walked through the greenhouse doors.

Making Pre-Orders & Inventory Easier

For Brian, one of the biggest improvements with the online and in-person sales has been how much easier it is to manage pre-orders and inventory in one place.

With Google Forms, he had to log in multiple times a day to see what had sold and make sure the chapter had not oversold a plant. That meant more manual work and more room for mistakes.

With Cheddar Up, North Ed FFA can set inventory ahead of time and track what is still available as orders come in. That gives Brian a much clearer picture of the sale without constantly checking and updating a separate spreadsheet.

That organization also helps the chapter feel more confident about fulfilling pre-orders. Brian noted that using Cheddar Up helps them know they can provide the plant materials customers have already purchased.

The chapter also uses discount codes to recognize the work students put into growing and caring for the plants. It gives Brian a simple way to reward their effort and make sure they get credit for being part of the sale from start to finish.

Saving Time Beyond the Plant Sale

Cheddar Up has also helped reduce the administrative work that used to come with running the sale.

When the greenhouse relied more heavily on cash and checks, Brian had to spend time counting money, making deposits, and making sure funds stayed secure in the classroom. Moving more of the payment reporting and tracking online means less time handling payments and more time focused on students.

The setup also gets easier from year to year. Instead of rebuilding the sale from scratch, Brian can refresh photos, update products, adjust inventory, and get the next collection ready to go.

North Ed FFA has also found other ways to use Cheddar Up. Brian used the platform to manage registration for a regional agricultural science teachers conference, and the chapter also used it for a broiler chicken sale so customers could pay ahead and simply pick up their birds.

For Brian, all of that time saved comes back to the same goal: giving students more opportunities to learn, grow, and figure out where they want to go next.