“I believe in the future of farming.” If you are an over-50-year-old FFA alumni, you recognize this as the first line in the FFA Creed. If you are a younger FFA alumni, like myself, you learned “I believe in the future of agriculture.” I know this distinction because I lived the transition.
The fall of 1990 was my freshman year in high school and was the first year of the revised creed. Anyone who knows ag teachers knows how open-minded and accepting of change they are. You can imagine the scuttle surrounding the changes in the creed.
“The future of agriculture … not the future of farming?”
“Is it an agricultur-al-ist, or an agriculturist?”
“What the heck is an agriculturist?”
In honor of National FFA Week from Feb. 15-22, I am posing a question. Is the National FFA Organization developing the future farmers of America?
In 1989, the Future Farmers of America changed their name to the National FFA Organization. Apparently, there is a stigma attached to the word “farmer” that excluded youth from participating in FFA. The same notion eliminated “farmer” and “farming” from the FFA Creed, replaced by “agriculturist” and “agriculture.”
At the time, I was in favor of the change. After all, I was a rancher, and I did not identify as a farmer. I assumed that others in agriculture felt the same … ranchers, wool growers, vintners, horse trainers, orchardists, foresters and beekeepers, to name a few. Not to mention some of the support roles like agronomists, veterinarians, mechanics, salesmen and logisticians, to name a few. The question remains, with the stigma of farming removed, the National FFA Organization is more inclusive, but do they still develop farmers?
Many of you, I’m sure, are questioning my premise … and that is a good instinct. The statistics on how many FFA members go into farming or ranching are inconclusive. Let’s do an informal poll; if you are a farmer or rancher who didn’t wear the iconic blue corduroy jacket, raise your hand. Wow, there’s a surprising number of you raising your hand. One statistic is certain, the National FFA Organization just reached 1 million members and membership grows every year, but the number in production agriculture falls every year. With more FFA alumni, why isn’t the number in production agriculture going up?
I have nothing but good memories from my time in FFA. I learned skills such as public speaking, parliamentary procedure and livestock evaluation. I also learned skills that didn’t come with a first-place pennant like team-building, decision-making and communication along with the self-confidence that comes with those skills.
The most valuable part of FFA was my supervised agricultural experience, or SAE. (If you’re still raising your hand as someone who didn’t wear the blue jacket, everything in FFA is an alphabet soup of acronyms.) Everything about high school prepared me for college and trained me to be a middle manager or a "yes man" in some multinational corporation … except for my SAE. It was the closest thing to entrepreneurial training to be a farmer, rancher or small businessman. The simple directive for an SAE is to invest resources to make profit in an agricultural enterprise. Name another activity in high school that teaches entrepreneurial innovation, much less innovation in agriculture?
I am grateful for my time in ag education and FFA, but many going into production agriculture don’t recognize the need. Have you been to a local industry meeting or maybe a Farm Bureau or irrigation district meeting? The new president or chairman is introduced, walks to the podium and is handed a gavel. As that farmer or rancher stares at the onlooking crowd, only then do they recognize the need for training in public speaking and parliamentary procedure. The audience thinks to themselves, “If only there was a youth organization that trains the future farmers of America to speak in public and lead a meeting.”
I won’t complain without offering a few solutions, and an organization is simply a group of people … people who individually can make a difference. If you are still raising your hand as a farmer who didn’t participate in FFA, first, you can lower your hand, but your perspective is critically important. You can mentor others like you who never recognized the benefits of joining such an organization. You can become involved in “Forever Blue,” a website that connects people in agriculture to young persons interested in agriculture as a career. I am told there is a scarcity of mentors in production agriculture.
If you are a student, joining FFA is not enough. You need to participate in a wide variety of activities. Winning a first-place pennant is exciting, but honing your skills in a contest that you are uncomfortable with is the foundation of well-roundedness.
I do believe in the future of agriculture, but the next generation won’t magically appear … they must be developed. That future of agriculture is inexorably tied to the future of farming … and the future farmers who make it possible.