Future Farmers of America
FFA originally stood for Future Farmers of America, but the association, in an effort to free itself of the stigma of modern-day American agriculture, has chosen to just be called FFA. FFA is a youth organization based in high school classes that promotes and supports agricultural education. It is loosely connected with 4-H. High school students compete in various competitions in two major areas-career development events (CDE's) and supervised agricultural experiences (SAE's). CDE's consist of competitions aimed toward skills in a certain career area from agricultural marketing, meat, livestock, and dairy judging to food science and agricultural communications. SAE's consist of raising a farm-animal (pig, lamb, steer, rabbit, etc.) and showing this animal, growing a crop, or learning the mechanics of agricultural machinery.FFA is based in chapters at the high school level. Each chapter belongs to a district association which belongs to the state association which belongs to the national association. Competition for CDE's takes place at each level. Lower levels are considered qualifying for competition at the national level. The National FFA Association holds its annual conference where all national competition takes place in Louisville, Kentucky.
