The future of agriculture: youth education

Educating youth about agriculture is truly the future and livelihood of the ag industry. And FFA is an important program that does just that. While at the Nebraska Ag Classic in Kearney, Seth Derner, Nebraska FFA Foundation board treasurer, shared some attention-grabbing facts about Nebraska FFA:

• In Nebraska, there are around 6,500 FFA members and 139 chapters across the state
• The average FFA member has:
• 90 hours completed per year in an ag classroom
• 24 hours completed per year in FFA activities (community service, volunteering, etc.)
• 40 hours completed per year in SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) projects
• This equals a total of 154 hours engaged in understanding agriculture and leadership development

If you take these 154 hours times the 6,500 FFA students in Nebraska, that equals over 1 million hours that youth in this state are engaged and ready to serve agriculture. And it's just as vital for us to continue educating and supporting this program.

The Nebraska Corn Board and Nebraska Corn Growers Association are going to have more of a role with FFA in the upcoming year in helping with the Agricultural Issues Academy, a program designed to educate FFA students about specific issues affecting agriculture. This year is focusing the misinformation and misconceptions about animal welfare.

 
Helping serve Nebraska FFA is important and as easy as checking into helping your local chapter, giving a donation to the Jacket Fund, or using your leadership from your agricultural field to share with others about the importance of agricultural education. Nebraska FFA also has an awesome campaign called, I Believe in the Future of Ag. This fundraising campaign is focused on the future of FFA at both the local and state level specifically in Nebraska.
 
To do more, check out the Foundation's website: http://www.neffafoundation.org/.