Future Farmers of America are diving into agriculture, science and technology -- and membership is increasing

Former Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue welcomes Future Farmers of America students. (USDA photo via Offrange)

Young people in Future Farmers of America have stepped up the group's outreach and scope by working on "highly technical, lab-based Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAE) that are a long way from modern stereotypes about FFA," reports Sarah Murphy of Offrange. New FFA experiences include cows, pigs, plants, shows and a whole lot more.

The group is working to expand projects that prepare students for "technological advances, challenges, and opportunities facing 21st-century agriculture," Murphy explains. FFA is also recruiting new members from urban schools and communities that haven't traditionally been in the FFA mix. "So far, the efforts seem to be paying off. Membership grew 11% in 2023 alone, to nearly 950,000 students."

As FFA fans out to more communities, more non-rural students are experiencing rural and farming life for the first time. Patrycja Zbrzezny, who directs the John Bowne High School’s agriculture program in Queens, New York, told Murphy, "We try to open up the world of ag to them to experience it all.” Murphy adds, "The school’s 3.9-acre farm includes miniature horses, goats, and sheep, as well as 150 laying hens whose eggs the students sell at their agricultural stand."

National Proficiency Award projects from 2023 illustrate the depth and breadth of what some FFA students are challenging themselves and their supervisors to explore. Murphy writes, "[Students] are founding their own genetics labs to test ruminant blood for pregnancy, creating podcasts to interview agricultural leaders, flying drones, and breeding hypoallergenic Yorkie Poodles."

Students who learn the most throughout their SAE are passionate about their project and have good instructional support. FFA program specialist Brett Evans told Murphy, "The number one problem we have is not enough teachers. We have schools that want to open programs, but we are not producing enough teachers to meet the demand.” 

Quick hits: $725 million released to clean up old coal mines; National FFA Week is Feb. 19-26

Here's a roundup of stories with rural resonance; if you do or see similar work that should be shared on The Rural Blog, email us at heather.chapman@uky.edu.

The Society of Environmental Journalists is accepting submissions for the SEJ 2022 Awards through March 1. Read more here.

The Interior Department announced the release of nearly $725 million in funding to clean up abandoned coal mines. It's the first tranche of $11.3 billion promised in the infrastructure bill to be disbursed over the next 15 years. Read more here.

The National FFA Organization, called the Future Farmers of America until 1988, will celebrate its seventh annual National FFA Week from Feb. 19-26. Read more here.

A Maine dairy farm's struggles to produce its signature chocolate milk illustrate the complexities of the supply-chain issues facing farmers and others. Read more here.

Unharvested crops dramatically increase the amount of food wasted in agriculture; some farmers are trying to find solutions. Read more here.

Grain Bin Safety Week and National FFA Week Feb. 21-27

Two national observances with rural resonance are coming up next week, so here's a heads up for planning your coverage.

Feb. 20-27 marks the 73rd annual National Future Farmers of America Week. The FFA website has an informational page and toolkit with more information, graphics, and coverage ideas. Read more here.

Grain Bin Safety Week is also next week (Feb. 21-27). Deaths from grain-bin entrapments increased in recent years because of the record wet weather. And, with on-farm grain bins growing ever larger, the risk of injury or death is real. But farmers can take several steps to avoid the risk, Russ Quinn reports for DTN/The Progressive Farmer. Click here for more information about the observance on the Grain Bin Safety Week website.

Click here for more information about a contest to award rural fire departments and emergency response teams with grain rescue tubes and special hands-on training for grain-bin entrapment. Since the contest began eight years ago, four lives have been saved thanks to the program. Nominations are due April 30.

Rural California teen feathering his nest with egg business

Ayden Gartenlaub, 16, feeds his hens. (The Californian photo by Alex Horvath)

Many 16 year-olds have an after-school job, but Ayden Gartenlaub's is a little different. The teen, who lives on the outskirts of Bakersfield, California, has been running his own small business selling eggs for the past two years and is starting to see some big returns with Ayden's Eggs.

"The soon-to-be high school junior started his business two years ago as a freshman with 12 chickens and a few small coops on his school farm. Now he has 350 hens and is selling an average of 75 to 90 dozen eggs every Saturday at the East Hills Farmers Market in northeast Bakersfield," Steven Mayer reports for Bakersfield.com.

Ayden says the secret to his success is hard work, love for his chickens, and a better product. Grocery store eggs can be a month old before you buy them, but Ayden's are generally less than a week old. "I can definitely tell the difference. They're really good," customer Lori Clemmons told Mayer. Clemmons also said she likes supporting a young entrepreneur like Ayden who works so hard.

How hard does Ayden work? Every day, Ayden spends two hours a day feeding and watering his hens, gathering eggs and doing other related chores, and on Friday he spends five or six hours washing and packaging eggs (with help from his family). "Saturday is farmers market day, when the young farmer transforms into the salesman, engaging with customers, telling the story of why these eggs are not only white and brown, but robin's egg blue, light green, copper-colored and occasionally, even a blush-rose shade," Mayer reports.

When he's not chicken-wrangling, the young entrepreneur is an A-student who plays sousaphone in the marching band. He was once a defensive lineman for the football team at Highland High School, but gave it up to focus on his business. Amber Carter, a Future Farmers of America advisor and ag teacher at Highland, said Ayden's project was inspirational to other students. "A lot of students don't think they have anything to offer in ag. Ayden's project shows them what can be done," Carter told Mayer.