LUMBERTON — Troy Kameron Taylor grew up playing in the dirt. Now he wants to get paid for it.

The years he spent working for Greenstate Landscape and Nursery in Lumberton — owned by his father, Keith Taylor — translated into a near win at the National FFA Convention held last month in Indianapolis.

“I grew up around it, but mostly full-time since I was about 16,” the 19-year-old Lumberton resident said.

He placed second among the four finalists for the national Landscape Management - Entrepreneurship/Placement Proficiency award. He won a plaque and $500.

The award recognizes an FFA member who has excelled as an agricultural entrepreneur or as an employee or volunteer with a landscape business. The organization hands out awards in 47 proficiency categories each year, according to the national office.

To apply, Taylor wrote about “six to eight” of the skills he learned from working in the landscape business.

“One of the skills I wrote about was maintenance and operation of equipment,” he said, such as using a backhoe or loader.

Taylor said he enjoys preparing the soil for landscaping and working outside.

“That’s the main point, that I’m outside every day,” he said. Presently, he is working full-time for Greenstate.

Taylor graduated in 2008 from Lumberton High School, where he was a member of the school’s FFA chapter. He plans to apply for the landscape program at Sandhills Community College. He wants to one day take over for his father as the majority owner of Greenstate. His mother is Amby Taylor.

The National FFA Organization — known as the Future Farmers of America until 1988 — has more than 500,000 members. Its programs strive to help students prepare for careers in agriculture science, business and technology.