All about agriculture (02/25/06)

It could have been named the Future Welders, Mechanics, Lawmakers, Biologists and Flower Arrangers of America, but it doesn’t have quite the same ring.

The National FFA Organization, formerly known as Future Farmers of America, has grown from its humble beginnings in rural Virginia in the 1920s to become a federally-chartered, integral part of agriculture education.

Today, the FFA clubs at Fort Recovery and Jay County High Schools boast a combined membership of 240, and those involved in agriculture education in some capacity is nearly 775, but only a minority will ever personify the “farmer” part of their club.

FFA is one of three components of agriculture education at the high school level. It is a national organization among high school students that offers a series of projects and competitions in a variety of categories.

At Fort Recovery, participation in FFA is required of all students enrolled in ag education, but it is optional at JCHS.

Michael Gower, one of two FFA advisors at Fort Recovery High School, said that only about 1 percent of the U.S. population will become involved in traditional production agriculture, yet as many as one in five will have a career that falls under the agriculture umbrella.

Both he and Bob Lyons, FFA advisor at Jay County High School, report steadily increasing enrollment in ag education and FFA alike. For the 2005-2006 school year, 770 students at JCHS signed up for ag, but there was only room for 640.

The reason for the increase seems to lie primarily in FFA’s ever-broadening scope. During the past several decades the program has expanded to encompass career skills in 45 different national proficiencies that help prepare teens for 250 different agricultural-related careers.

Even teens who don’t live near a farm or food-production plant to have a place in FFA; 34 percent of FFA members nationwide hail from urban and suburban areas.

“Way back when, living on a farm was a prerequisite for participating in the program, which kept a lot of kids out,” said Lyons.

These days, FFA is open to any high school student looking for a leg-up in their future vocation, or even some extra padding for their college application. About 81 percent of FFA students nationwide express plans to go to college.

“You don’t have to come from an agriculture background,” said Gower. “You just have to have an interest in ag.”

“It’s changed since I was in high school, and rightly so,” said Gower, a 1993 graduate of Mississinawa Valley High School. “The whole business has changed.”

Gower said that increases in technology have allowed individual farmers to be more productive, requiring fewer farmers in general. But he says the farmers that remain must rely more heavily on newer techniques.

The business has changed, but its importance hasn’t. Agriculture is America’s largest employer, with 22 million people employed nationwide, and also remains the top industry in both Indiana and Ohio.

“Our program is as important now in 2006 as it was 20 years ago, but just for different reasons,” said Gower.

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Another reason for ever-increasing membership may be the relatively recent addition of girls to the program.

Females have long been allowed to participate in FFA on local and state levels, but were not permitted national membership until 1969.

Still, Fort Recovery didn’t see its first female member until the mid-1980s, and Lyons said he thinks girls first joined his FFA club after the consolidation of several high schools to form what is now JCHS in the 1970s.

Roughly a third of all members at both high schools are female — slightly below the national female membership of 38 percent. However, females hold fifty percent of offices at the state level as well as half of the local offices at JCHS.

“We’re finding that a lot of our girls are taking over offices,” said Lyons. “It used to be that girls were only the secretaries!”

While Lyons mused that perhaps the influx in female members during the last three decades is a phenomenon that can be seen not only in FFA, but also in all extra-curricular activities, Ashley Shawver, FFA reporter at Jay County High School, thinks maybe girls just weren’t invited before.

“FFA has more things going on now that appeal to girls,” said Shawver. “Its not just for the boys anymore.”

Shawver said about 40 percent of all students enrolled in horticulture classes at JCHS are girls. Lyons said the addition of the greenhouse in 2004 helped foster interest in horticulture among female students.

“We got that greenhouse, boy, those girls went crazy for it,” laughed Lyons. “And they’re good at it!”

But the secret to getting girls excited about agriculture is much more complex than offering them the chance to work with pretty flowers. Perhaps it is equally important to understand how they are interested in learning, rather than just what they are interested in learning.

“They usually don’t give a darn about how to grow pigs,” said Lyons of the females in his class. “But they really want to know how pigs grow.” He added that while machine and welding remain largely a boys club, girls are seen in increasing numbers in animal and plant science courses.

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Educational theories aside, a discussion on the popularity of a group among high school students would not be complete without examining one very important aspect: the social aspect.

Once a group that sometimes carried a reputation as being only for “hicks,” Gower said FFA is now a social force in its own right.

“It’s a clique of sorts. They find a way to connect,” he said. “These kids aren’t necessarily the most academic or the studs on the ball field, but they can find real success here. Kids like being part of something that is successful.”

“Kids always say, ‘I’m not a farmer, though,’” said Shawver of students who are approached about being in FFA. “But then they take other ag classes and realize there is much more to it.”

Perhaps the relevance of agriculture is actually irrelevant when it comes to which students will enroll in agriculture education. Maybe the power of suggestion is a stronger force than educational tactics or social clubs.

Lyons remembers several years ago when he first made the decision to make horticulture a part of agricultural education, but was concerned about drawing kids to the program.

He opened a class called “Horticulture for Basketball Players and Cheerleaders.”

The class was full.

“Wouldn’t you know it, but all my students were basketball players and cheerleaders, except for one, who apologized because she thought she wasn’t allowed in the class!”

Lyons said that sometimes kids stumble into ag Education at the suggestion of other students, or because they heard that classes were “easy” and wind up finding they have a real interest.

“If you do it with your hands, and it seems fun and easy, you sneak up on them. They accidentally learn something.”[[In-content Ad]]