Agriculture plays a key role in everyday life. As the membership in the National FFA Organization continues to grow, it's evident that students understand the important role they can also play in agriculture. The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization.
Today, the National FFA Organization has a record-high student membership of 945,988, an increase of 11 percent from last year. In addition, the number of FFA chapters continues to grow -- increasing by 168 this year, resulting in 9,163 chapters in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"It's exciting to see our numbers grow and know we continue to influence the next generation of leaders," said National FFA CEO Scott Stump. "This generation is making a difference in their communities and agriculture. We're excited to see the enthusiasm for agricultural education and FFA reflected in our membership."
The top five membership states of the organization are Texas, California, Georgia, Illinois and North Carolina. This year, the organization has more than 150,000 Latino members, more than 50,000 Black members, more than 9,000 Asian members, more than 14,000 American Indian and Alaska Native members, and more than 2,400 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander members. More than 43% of the membership is female, and 49.8% is male, with .6% reporting as nonbinary and 6.4% undisclosed.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
Virtually all of your CAG team members have grown up with FFA and strongly endorse the organization. Thus, for anyone who loves agriculture, this story should certainly warm your heart. To see such upstanding young people become tomorrow’s agricultural leaders through the training they receive from FFA, is welcome news. To see the expansion and know the excitement is growing for FFA gives us faith that the future of agriculture is bright and in good hands. If you don’t do so already, might we suggest you find a way to support and promote your local, state and/or even the national FFA. It is simply another way to show your interest in agriculture. Plus, it will be great for business down the road!
