How FFA Cultivates the Next Generation of Farmers & Why Freight Farms Wants to Help
In October, we had the pleasure of exhibiting at the FFA National Convention and Expo.
This wasn’t just any trade show; it was an opportunity to showcase our technology to the literal future farmers of America. Let me introduce you to FFA:
The National FFA Organization is “a dynamic youth organization that changes lives and prepares members for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.” It's an organization that spans middle schools, high schools, and colleges in both rural and urban settings across the country, with an emphasis on agriculture education through courses such as horticulture, animal science, agriculture mechanics, aquaculture, and plant science. FFA members and alumni are some of the most knowledgeable people on topics of agriculture, and it's no secret they go on to lead some of the most influential and impactful companies in the industry.
I’m Jacy.
I’m Freight Farms’ Growth Marketing Manager, and FFA has a special place in my heart. I was a member all throughout my high school career and had the privilege of serving my chapter as our secretary and later as our chapter president. It was one of the first experiences I had speaking to a room of 100+ of my peers, commanding a presence, and leading chapter meetings following parliamentary procedure. During my time as an FFA member, I had amazing hands-on learning experiences that applied to my coursework, such as working in our school greenhouse, landscaping and planting flowers around the school, and feeding and caring for on-campus livestock. When I went on to college and struggled to determine what to major in, I ultimately leaned into what I loved about my time as an FFA member — communicating the benefit and value of agriculture. This led me to study Public Relations with a minor in Agricultural Business. Today, I work on the marketing team at Freight Farms and I’m one of the few people I know that actually use their degree for what they intended. I attribute this and my leadership, public speaking, and teamwork skills to the foundations FFA gave me.
Me (Jacy) with my brother at the North Carolina FFA State Convention.
When I started at Freight Farms three years ago and immediately jumped in to help with our Farm to School month webinar, I knew Freight Farms would be pivotal in agricultural education and FFA. Fast-forward to now, and my vision of reconnecting with FFA members and advisors to tell them about how a Freight Farm could be an incredible tool for hands-on learning came to fruition.
Our reasons for exhibiting at the FFA Expo were twofold: First, we’ve seen the power a Freight Farm can have in educational settings — the wide variety of subjects it can teach and the impact it can have on students — especially in urban settings and areas where climate or geography makes it unrealistic to have a traditional farm at school. Secondly, we’ve learned that people who have prior experience farming immediately see the value in our farms. They know the hardships of unpredictable weather, drought, pests, and disease and they understand the cost of land and water, all problems that controlled environment agriculture and hydroponics address.
FFA marries these two audiences, and our hunch was that it would be a perfect fit.
After all, the FFA creed begins, “I believe in the future of agriculture” — and it’s no secret that, at Freight Farms, we do, too. So, we shipped one of our farms out to Indianapolis, IN, where the expo was held, and spent three days speaking with FFA students and advisors and touring people through our farm.
Ultimately, our hunch was correct. Student after student came up to us, raving about how exciting our farm was. We were consistently impressed by the maturity of FFA students — their poise, knowledge, and agricultural expertise. They even taught me a thing or two about hydroponics! If the FFA advisors’ passion for giving their students the best possible learning experience hadn’t been evident, their students’ knowledge would have given it away. With hundreds of jobs opening up across the country in the controlled environment agriculture space, advisors were eager to learn more about our technology and how it would ready students for a career in this growing industry. We hope to soon welcome these event attendees and others to the collection of forward-thinking FFA chapters with a Freight Farm — which currently includes Rowan County Senior High, Madison Central High School, Shelby Valley High School, Floyd County School of Innovation, and Emerald Ridge High School.
We even got to spend some time with FFA students who work in their school’s Freight Farm, like these two from Rowan County Senior High!
On the whole, we were blown away by the event.
From John Deere to Auburn University to Ram Trucks, we were surrounded by incredibly high-caliber co-exhibitors in the exposition hall. It was amazing to connect with these like-minded companies and universities who are also striving to have a positive impact on the agriculture industry.
I’m still riding the high of the event, and feeling more connected to my FFA roots than ever. It’s made me think about what more Freight Farms can do to connect with FFA. On my list is connecting FFA chapters to local container farms for tours (including welcoming chapters local to Boston to our HQ farm). Another, which has been on my mind for a while, is the need to develop a curriculum for educators to use in tandem with our Freight Farms, which I believe would provide grounding guidance for schools and FFA chapters looking to get started. Based on the enthusiasm and smarts of the FFA advisors I met in Indianapolis, I think they would be the perfect partners for a curriculum development project.
So, will we be at the FFA National Convention & Expo next year?
You bet we will. We’re aiming to incorporate Freight Farms into at least 10 more FFA chapters by the end of 2023, and the first step is connecting with those FFA students and advisors.