About FFA
What is FFA?
FFA is a dynamic youth organization that changes lives and prepares members for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education. FFA develops members’ potential and helps them discover their talent through hands-on experiences, which give members the tools to achieve real-world success. FFA is an intracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. It is one of the three components of agricultural education.
The official name of the organization is the National FFA Organization. The letters “FFA” stand for Future Farmers of America. These letters are a part of our history and our heritage that will never change. But FFA is not just for students who want to be production farmers; FFA also welcomes members who aspire to careers as teachers, doctors, scientists, business owners and more. For this reason, the name of the organization was updated in 1988 after a vote of national convention delegates to reflect the growing diversity and new opportunities in the industry of agriculture.
FFA continues to help the next generation rise up to meet those challenges by helping its members to develop their own unique talents and explore their interests in a broad range of agricultural career pathways. So today, we are still the Future Farmers of America. But, we are the Future Biologists, Future Chemists, Future Veterinarians, Future Engineers and Future Entrepreneurs of America, too.
With more than 760,113 FFA members in 8,739 chapters in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, the National FFA Organization has a strong presence as the largest student-led organization in the nation.
FFA is Structured on Four Levels
Local FFA Chapter - American Falls FFA Chapter
The heart of the National FFA Organization is at the local chapter level. FFA chapters may be chartered in any public school with an agricultural education program. Leadership is provided by student officers who are elected each year by the chapter’s members, and by the agriculture teachers who serve as the advisor for the chapter.
The American Falls FFA chapter is comprised of about 330 FFA members in grades 9-12. Our chapter was chartered in 1991. Marc Beitia, Bret Kindall, and Savannah Stroebel are the current FFA advisors and classroom teachers.
District FFA - East Magic Valley District
The state of Idaho is broken into ten FFA districts. Districts serve the simple role of providing social and competitive opportunities to geographically close chapters. American Falls FFA is in the East Magic Valley District, which also includes Burley, Declo, Minico, Oakley, Raft River, and Rockland FFA Chapters.
State FFA Associations - Idaho FFA Association
FFA is an organization made up of state associations; those state associations are made up of local chapters. State FFA Associations function within the constitution of the National FFA Organization but may also create individual leadership structures, awards, programs and competitions. State FFA officers lead the membership of the state associations and are elected by state FFA convention delegates. Local FFA Chapters are chartered through the state associations.
At the national level, FFA is led by a board of directors and six student national officers. Together they act on recommendations from the national convention delegates and agricultural education’s stakeholders to set the vision and policy for FFA. The founding principles, authority, objectives and procedures of the National FFA Organization are established by the National FFA Constitution and Bylaws. The National FFA Organization is a federally-chartered organization.
What do members actually do in FFA?
There are a wide variety of opportunities in FFA and American Falls is dedicated to provide these experiences to all students. No matter what an individual is interested in, there is a place for them in FFA. There is no expectation on level of participation, we have students invested in community service and local activities, others focus their energy in competitive events, and many work hard on their Supervised Agricultural Experiences (SAEs) to achieve degree awards.
Explore the resources on this website, or visit the Idaho FFA Association or National FFA Organization website for more details!