The National FFA Organization, often referred to simply as FFA, has been helping America’s youth prepare for leadership roles and careers in agriculture since 1928. Earlier this month, the group announced it had reached a record-breaking milestone of having more than one million FFA members: 1,027,273.
The seeds for today’s FFA were planted in 1925 at Virginia Polytechnic Institute by agriculture teachers Henry C. Groseclose, Walter Newman, Edmund Magill, and Harry Sanders who decided to establish a club for high school farm boys enrolled in vocational agriculture. The Future Farmers of Virginia, or FFV for short, was aimed at offering farm boys a greater opportunity for self-expression and for the development of leadership.
The name of the organization was partly based on the original meaning of “FFV,” which stood for the First Families of Virginia. The “first families” referred to the families of both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Groseclose once stated that, “The Future Farmers of America should follow the example of these great sons of early Virginia by using scientific knowledge, intelligence, and enthusiasm to the end that agriculture may again be known as the profession of the real aristocrat.” Groseclose wrote the by-laws, as well as the constitution that the FFV would be based on. He also designed the emblem, parts of which are still included in the current FFA emblem. The group’s set up of a statewide organization with local chapters would serve as the inspiration for other states’ own organizations and later the national FFA.
The FFA was officially organized in 1928 during the National Livestock Judging Contests in Kansas City, Missouri, which was attended by multiple members of high school ag groups. On November 20, 33 of those students from 18 states met at the Baltimore Hotel in Kansas City and formed the Future Farmers of America (FFA). By 1935, FFA membership had topped 100,000 with more than 3,900 chapters in 47 states, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
FFA membership took a leap in 1965 when 58,000 members of the New Farmers of America merged with the Future Farmers of America. This followed an act of Congress that prohibited segregation in public schools. Four years later, delegates at the 1969 National FFA Convention voted to allow women to be members of the FFA. In 1976, Alaska became the 50th state to obtain a state charter. An all-time membership high was recorded in 1977, with 509,735 members in 8,148 chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
In 1988, the delegates at the 61st National FFA Convention voted to change the organization’s official name from Future Farmers of America to the National FFA Organization. This change was made to recognize that FFA is not only for those interested in farming, but it is also for those with more diverse interests in the industry of agriculture, encompassing science, business and technology in addition to production farming.
Today, FFA reaches middle and high school students in both rural and urban communities and encourages diversity in membership. For example, as of 2023, 42.4% of FFA members were female and FFA chapters are currently in 23 of the 25 largest cities in the U.S., reaching more students in suburban areas. The wider range of student participation sheds light on the value of both traditional and urban farming.
The announcement of the milestone of reaching more than one million FFA members comes ahead of the 97th National FFA Convention & Expo, which is set to take place October 23-26 in Indianapolis. In 2023, the Convention had a record-breaking attendance of nearly 72,954. Learn more HERE. Below are more details on FFA Membership Stats for 2023-2024:
Student Membership: 1,027,273 (+8.6% from last year)
Student Chapters: 9,235
Alumni Membership: 760,152
Alumni Chapters: 2,033
Top states with highest membership numbers:
Texas (177,401)
California (104,450)
Georgia (81,963)
Florida (60,817)
North Carolina (48,241)
Top states for % membership increase compared to last year:
Utah (+172.7% from last year)
Florida (+116.9 % from last year)
Alaska (+74.9% from last year)
