95th Missouri FFA Convention to be held April 20-21 in Columbia

April 17, 2023

FFA members from across the state will meet in Columbia, April 20-21, at 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.

According to Missouri FFA Advisor Keith Dietzschold, the state association will present State FFA Degrees to 962 members who, as a result of their agricultural and leadership achievements, have qualified for the state's highest FFA degree. Dietzschold also said Missouri has the largest number of American FFA Degree recipients of any state - 582 Missouri FFA members received the American FFA Degree in 2022 during the national convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana, in October.

During the state convention the State Star Farmer, the State Star in Agribusiness, the State Star in Placement, and the State Star in Agriscience will be named. In addition, 554 FFA members will receive awards in 45 agricultural proficiency areas for development of their supervised agricultural experience program (SAE). The proficiency areas are varied and 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 will also participate in a number of organization program areas, including career development events such as agricultural sales, floriculture, livestock evaluation, and speaking competitions.

The Missouri FFA will present awards to several adults and groups for their support of agricultural education and FFA. This year 32 Honorary State FFA Degrees will be presented. 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 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 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, Windmill Park Media. Morrison’s journey, from growing up as an orphan to a career of motivating others, ignites his audience members 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 8,995 chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.