FFA members from across the meet in Columbia on April 20th and 21st for the 95th Missouri FFA Convention to honor fellow members for outstanding achievements, conduct association business, elect new officers, and participate in leadership workshops. Ignite, Embrace, Empower is the theme for this year’s annual convention, which is expected to attract more than 8,000 students and guests to the Hearnes Center on the University of Missouri campus.
The convention will be led by Missouri FFA President Colton Roy of Trenton.
According to Missouri FFA Advisor Keith Dietzschold, formerly of Chillicothe; the state association will present State FFA Degrees to 962 members who have qualified for the state’s highest FFA degree. Dietzschold also said Missouri had 582 members receive the American FFA Degrees last October during the national convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the most of any state.
During the state FFA convention, announcements will be made of the State Stars in farming, agri-business, placement, and agri-science. Over 500 (554) FFA members will receive awards in 45 agricultural proficiency areas for the development of their supervised agricultural experience program (SAE). Proficiency areas include production, management, and communications disciplines. SAE programs in Missouri, during the 2020 record year, generated more than $58 million in student income. FFA members also participate in program areas, including career development events such as agricultural sales, floriculture, livestock evaluation, and public speaking competitions.
The Missouri FFA will present honorary state FFA awards to 32 adults and groups for their support of agricultural education and FFA. An additional 16 honorary degrees will be presented to parents of the retiring state officers. Three FFA chapters will be chartered during the Friday morning session.
The new chapters are at Blue Eye, Laquey, and North Pemiscot.
National FFA Secretary Jessica Herr, from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, will address FFA members and guests during the second general session Thursday evening. Herr has worked on the family farm, consisting of dairy, poultry, and crops. After her year of service as a National FFA Officer, she will return to Penn State University, University Park, Pennsylvania to study agricultural sciences and leadership development. Herr was elected as a national officer in October during the national convention. The six-person national officer team will collectively log more than 100,000 miles representing FFA to top leaders in business, government, and education. National officers also lead numerous personal growth and leadership training sessions, and promote agricultural literacy.
The first session at the FFA Convention will include remarks from Christopher Daubert, vice chancellor and dean of the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources; Chris Chinn, Missouri Department of Agriculture director and Margie Vandeven, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education commissioner. The fifth session will include remarks from Mun Choi, president of the University of Missouri and a keynote address from Morris Morrison of Windmill Park Media. Morrison’s journey, from growing up as an orphan to a career of motivating others, ignites his audience to make their own positive impact.
The Missouri FFA has 25,920 members representing 355 chapters. The national organization has more than 850,000 members representing nearly nine thousand (8,995) chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
