FFA succeeds by expanding beyond farming

At a time when farm employment accounts for less than one percent of all U.S. jobs, the FFA, once the Future Farmers of America, is the largest vocational student group in the country, with more than half a million members, reports Motoko Rich of The New York Times after covering the group's annual convention in Indianapolis. About 70 percent of F.F.A.'s members live in rural areas, but the fastest growing segment of the membership is found in urban and suburban areas, which make up about 10 percent of the organization.

"You would think that something called Future Farmers of America would have come to a screeching halt by at least the 1960s in most parts of the country," Iowa State University historian Pamela Riney-Kehrberg told Rich. She said the group has succeeded largely because it has continued to remain relevant. FFA has expanded its agriculture science focus to include genetics, logistics, landscape gardening and alternative fuels. Chapters of the group also "aim to teach students leadership and job readiness as much as the finer points of cattle care or corn fertilization."

Rich adds, "At a time when many employers complain about the lack of basic communication and interpersonal skills among job candidates, the FFA emphasizes work on group projects and old-fashioned presentations in essays and speeches at many of its events. Even in the purely agricultural contests like the judging of livestock, students defended their positions before the judges as if they were trial lawyers in court."

About one in 12 jobs in the nation are agriculture-related, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Rich writes that part of FFA's appeal could be the expanded definition of agriculture that now includes forestry and fishing, and the fact that the organization does more to prepare youth for viable careers. As Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told Rich: "There is unlimited future in agriculture" because of a growing global population and changing diets in developing countries. (Read more)