Rockford Sun

This week is the 75th anniversary of National Future Farmers of America Week, which is known as a top educational program for young people across the country including in Illinois, which has 359 chapters and 22,352 members.

According to the Illinois Agriculture website, the Illinois FFA is an organization that changes lives and prepares youth for leadership, personal growth and career success in the agricultural world. It says it is not just for students who are striving to be production farmers, as the FFA also has members who want to be teachers, doctors, scientists, business members and more.

“Illinois FFA members are future chemists, veterinarians, government officials, entrepreneurs, bankers, international business leaders, teachers and premier professionals in many career fields,” the website says.

The website adds that the members live by the motto of “Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live and living to serve.” There are hundreds of FFA chapters across the state of Illinois in five districts and 25 sections.

Sen. Dave Syverson celebrated the National FFA Week through a post on Facebook, saying that he thanks the staff and supporters of the chapters across the state.

“FFA is one of the best educational programs and its impact on young people is unmeasurable,” Syverson said. “After meeting the young people involved in FFA, you can’t help but walk away feeling better about the future.

FFA dates back to the 1917 Smith-Hughes Act, which provided federal funding to teach agriculture in American public schools. The Future Farmers of Virginia, organized in 1925 at Virginia Tech formed the template for the modern FFA. 

In 1927, the first constitution and bylaws for the New Farmers of Virginia, an organization for African-American agricultural laws, was written. The first state rally was held that year by the organization.

The first FFA convention was held in 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri, after the FFA established a chapter in Kansas City. There were 33 delegates from 18 states in attendance and Leslie Applegate of New Jersey became the first FFA president. The first sectional gathering of the New Farmers of America was held. 

Then in 1929, Carlton Patton of Arkansas was named the first Star Farmer of America. The second national convention was also held and grew to 33 states with 64 delegates, including 30,000 member across the country. In 1932 Puerto Rico was granted a charter, as well.

In 1939, the first FFA national headquarters was created on 28.5 acres of land purchased near Alexandria, Va. In 1942 and 1944, FFA members joined in the war effort, with 138,548 FFA members serving in World War II. In 1965, the New Farmers of America merged with the FFA increasing membership to more than 50,000 people and in 1968 Presidential candidate Richard Nixon spoke at the National FFA Convention and was soon after elected to office. Later in 1974, President Gerald Ford would speak at the National FFA Convention on live television, and later President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush would speak, and most recently former President Donald Trump in 2018.

In 1969, the FFA opened membership to women, with the first delegates to the national convention named in 1970: New York’s Anita Decker and New Jersey’s Patricia Krowicki. In 1976 Julie Smiley of Washington was named the first FFA vice president and was the first to hold a national FFA Office. Alaska became the last of the 50 states to have a charter.

It operates now, according to its website, as “a dynamic youth organization that changes lives and prepares members for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.”