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Back in 2016 — for the first time in HERstory—five of the six National FFA Officers positions were held by young women in 2016. This is pretty epic, given that women were not even allowed to be members of the organization until 1969. As we all know, FFA stands for Future Farmers of America. Though, considering the officer team that year, we figured we might as well call them the Future FarmHERs.
Forging HER Path in the FFA
Fast-forward to 2016, and the FFA organization today recorded 629,367 members between the ages of 12‒21 across 7,757 chapters in the U.S. And as of that year, 47% of FFA members were female, and approximately 50% of state leadership positions were held by young women.
The first year I attended the National FFA Convention was 2015, and I had the pleasure of seeing this impressive group of young people get voted into office. As I sat up high in the massive auditorium and watched them walk confidently and proudly across the stage, I was a bit in awe of their composure. Those kids up on the stage weren’t just any young people; they were driven, talented, and hard-working young people.
The Future of Ag
My visit to the now-in-place National Officer Team at the FFA Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, proved this even further. The day started with a trip to a local high school, where the team gathered before classes started to spend the morning talking to a few different classes of FFA kids. Each member of the team took their turn talking to the classes, sharing their experiences, and passing on bits of knowledge through fun activities such as pretending to be a monster truck or being captain of a boat. I sat with the class—in awe of the talent of the young people in front of me and excited to see the involvement and focus of the kids in the audience.
From there, we went to FFA National Headquarters, where the team showed me around and taught me (yes, ME, aka Miss “I Can’t Remember Anything…”) a short bit of the FFA Creed that they all hold dear.
As I wrapped up my day with this team of driven and talented young women and men, I felt proud to be a part of agriculture. I was proud to know that the industry I spend my time in not only supports but is also the home for such amazing young people—young people who will no doubt run our government, lead change in the business world, or maybe participate in STEM fields—young people who really are the future of agriculture.
