Future Farmers of America (Page 1/6)
82-T/A [At Work] OCT 14, 05:29 PM
So, I'd absolutely never heard of this organization... the Future Farmers of America: https://www.ffa.org/

Apparently, my daughter's school is a supporting chapter. I never knew this because she's only in her first year of high school, so I've never driven down there, and only recently started picking her up from Cross Country practice. Her high school is fairly new... built maybe in 2004 I think? It's enormous, and it's fairly well funded to the point that they are building a new auditorium and converting the old auditorium (which again, was only built in 2004) into an orchestra practice area.

Anyway, when I drive to the back parking lot where the students park (and where I pick my daughter up after practice), I pass by an agriculture pasture that sits between the road, and one of the large school parking lots where the marching band does their practice. Basically... it's a large barn and cow pasture (and some other structures) that sit right in the middle of the high school campus.

It's absolutely unlike anything I've ever seen before... the school has 4 cows, two llamas, two turkeys, a few pigs, a few goats, and some other animals that I can't think of right now. Just to be clear, I've been around cows before, I've just never seen cows at a high school. At least not in the United States. It's actually really cool.

Every time I drive down there to pick up my daughter, just like some people are doing sports, the "Ag" kids (as my daughter calls them) are doing their FFA chores such as feeding the cows and animals, cleaning up after them, and doing various other responsibilities. I've seen the kids do everything from putting up fence posts and barbed wire, to cleaning the cows, to carrying hay into a large pile... and even driving a back-ho. It's actually really cool to see that. I guess I just never expected it because this high school is in a highly populated area of Tampa, and isn't exactly out in the country.


Anyway, another thing I noticed... I've never seen a boy out there. All of the teenagers doing chores on the school farm are girls... like every single one of them.

They also have a large greenhouse and there's a separate organization that they support that grows plants and such (as part of the Agriculture group). My daughter is friends with a bunch of the "Ag" kids... I just thought it was so cool... I didn't even know there was such a thing.
williegoat OCT 14, 05:45 PM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:

So, I'd absolutely never heard of this organization... the Future Farmers of America: https://www.ffa.org/


I can hear maryjane shaking his head from here.
82-T/A [At Work] OCT 14, 06:14 PM

quote
Originally posted by williegoat:

I can hear maryjane shaking his head from here.




Haha... this was half for his benefit than anything else... but I thought it was so cool that a school taught that kind of stuff. I just assumed that other than people going to school like Texas A&M or places that specifically taught agriculture, that farming was more or less something that was passed down from family to family.

I also don't know what kind of cows they are, but they aren't normal dairy cows. They aren't like the shaggy Scottish kind of cows that have the hair in their face, but it's like something in between. There's like two light brown ones with curly hair all over, and two dark brown ones with curly hair all over, and then two kind of spotted grey / black cows that I almost never see walking around. But one of the brown ones is always running around the field whenever I'm driving by.

It's just hilarious to see girls my daughter's age doing whatever it is in the pasture and by the barn.
maryjane OCT 14, 07:27 PM
I wore the blue gold jacket for the last 3 years in high school. Inversely, there were NO girls in our ag class. I was required to have an elective class and since I already knew a great deal about aoutmotives from working in my dad's autoshop for several years, and already knew my way around livestock some, ag was the next step. Ag class for juniors and sophmores was 1 hour, but 2 hours as a senior--last 2 hours of the school day. We had no livestock at the school but spent many of those 2 hour classes out on farms and ranches in the area, or at the large animal vet clinic.
We did have a nice welding and forging shop on campus tho, and a meat processing area and cold room as well as a greenhouse we built while I was a junior.

I learned to palpate (for pregnancy cows, how to butcher chickens and rabbits, (we did about 200 of each on 2 different days and I still have a nice long vee shaped scar where I sliced my left index finger up cutting a chicken's head off) how to use (hands on) a tool called a trocar to release bloat gas from a cow's rumen, how to castrate and use a tool called a burdizo, and how to recognize and judge different cuts of beef.

Ag class and FFA was the reason I passed Chemistry in my senior year. I sucked at it because I had no algebra. But the instructor had a little farm, was a Texas A&M graduate and was always grilling me on what we learned and always wanted to go thru our books and brochures we got from the area vets. Guess he felt sorry for me, but he passed me on final exam when I know for sure I was going to fail it.

3rd row, far left



I'm 2nd from left below.
Monkeyman OCT 14, 07:29 PM
Easy for a Floridian to be clueless on the FFA. It's HUGE amongst Jr and Sr High schools in farming country. I went to school in Indiana. We had an FFA chapter in my school (I'm not a farmer so I wasn't part). It was HUGE. They even had a couple of days each year were the FFA members would/could drive their favorite tractor to school.
maryjane OCT 14, 07:53 PM
As far as your daughter's high school ag dept, I suspect the cows are Jersey, Guernsey or maybe Brown Swiss. Ag, like any other endeavor, is a science and those wanting to pursue a college degree in it, need to have an ag foundation before entering university. That's what Vocational Ag classes/FFA provides. I believe nowadays, FFA and 4H are often combined.

Here in Central Texas, the ag class makeup is different than my time. It's almost all female and most raiase goats/sheep as their yearly ag class projects.
(I raised a hog one year (which we happily ate) and an Angus heifer calf the next, which we turned out into our brahma/heerford herd.


Back to my era. The 60s were a transition period for American Agriculture. The war years (both ww2 and Korea) meant few new developments took place in ag. Most farms were still using gasoline tractors, combines and balers as almost every diesel engine built was going into war use as was most diesel fuel itself. Research into agriculture virtually came to a standstill when ww2 broke out, the 50s were a catchup decade as industry switched from feeding troops to feeding a more wealthy America, and the world that was still reeling from war devastation. But the 60s is when innovation and real ag science began taking place. I knew (or thought I did) a lot about cattle and soil, until I started taking voc ag. I learned a lot in those classes, that helped me (and begrudgingly, my father) in the years afterward .

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 10-14-2023).]

maryjane OCT 14, 08:09 PM

quote
Originally posted by Monkeyman:

Easy for a Floridian to be clueless on the FFA. It's HUGE amongst Jr and Sr High schools in farming country. I went to school in Indiana. We had an FFA chapter in my school (I'm not a farmer so I wasn't part). It was HUGE. They even had a couple of days each year were the FFA members would/could drive their favorite tractor to school.



It isn't all about soybeans and corn.
Florida is one of the top 10 beef cattle producing states in USA. Sugar (#1 US sugar state) as well.


Patrick OCT 14, 10:10 PM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:

Anyway, another thing I noticed... I've never seen a boy out there. All of the teenagers doing chores on the school farm are girls... like every single one of them.



If teenage boys had half a developed brain, they'd put that knowledge to good use.
theogre OCT 15, 12:22 AM
FFA & 4H are separate but maybe have offices in same building in some places.
Often see both @ County & State Fairs in various spaces.

4H covers many "STEM" items forever not just Ag. Millions made/make almost anything to show in 4H building(s) in whatever fair.
Many join 4H & that group may never do anything w/ Ag while others that's nearly all they do.
Highlights web search: 4h fair rules
Should give local rules in ~ 40 page pdf...
quote
4-H Department Classes
Section A – Cloverbud: 4-H Prep
Section B – Textiles and Sewing Exhibits
Section C – Canning/ Drying Exhibits
Section D – Computer Exhibits
Section E – Arts, Crafts & Needlework Exhibits
Section F – Indoor/ Outdoor Gardening
Section G – Floriculture Exhibits
Section H – Photography Exhibits
Section I – Conservation, Landscaping & Natural Resource Exhibits
Section J – Electric Exhibits
Section K – Entomology/ Beekeeping
Section L – Field Crop Exhibits
Section M – Woodworking Articles
Section N - Science
Section O – Other 4-H Project Exhibits
Section P – Place Setting Contest
Section Q – Educational/ Club Exhibits
Section R – Foods Exhibits
Section S – Vegetable Exhibits
Section T – Cut Flowers
Section U – Demonstrated/ Illustrated Talks
Section V – Judging Contests
Section W – 4-H Talent Show
Section X – State Avian Bowl Contest
Section Y – Consumer Champions Bowl Contest
Section Z – Public Speaking
Section AA – Tractor Driving and Lawn Tractor Driving Contests
Section BB – State 4-H Archery Contest
Section CC – State 4-H Clothing Showcase Contest

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(Jurassic Park)

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blackrams OCT 15, 07:29 AM
It's been a very long time since I was involved in agriculture but, I always enjoyed the life style and the students have a chance to learn a lot of knowledge and skills on how to survive. Too many of us have forgotten what it takes to produce the food we need. Most of us don't even have gardens any longer and get our consumables from Wally World or a similar market. Heck, many don't even support local Farmers Markets.

FFA and 4H are both great organizations. I highly recommend either one for our youngsters. They may need those skills in the future and such things are great family ventures that help keep kids out of trouble.

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Rams
Learning most of life's lessons the hard way. Hey, you don't forget those and repeat them.
You are only young once but, you can be immature indefinitely.