96th Missouri FFA Convention to be held April 17-19 in Columbia

CONTACT INFORMATION

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., April 17, 2024 – FFA members from across the state will meet in Columbia, April 17-19, 2024, at the 96th Missouri FFA Convention to honor fellow members for outstanding achievements, conduct association business, elect new officers, and participate in leadership workshops.

Open the Door 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 1,051 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 – 608 Missouri FFA members received the American FFA Degree in 2023 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, 562 FFA members will receive awards in 46 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 2022 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 25 Honorary State FFA Degrees will be presented. An additional 16 honorary degrees will be presented to parents of the retiring state officers.

Five FFA chapters will be chartered during the Friday morning session. The new chapters are Bell City, Ellington, Glendale, STA at Paradise Park and Van Buren.

National FFA Secretary Grant Norfleet, from Mexico, Missouri, will address FFA members and guests during the first general session Wednesday evening. Norfleet showed cattle at the local, county and state levels alongside his younger brother as part of his beef production supervised agricultural experience (SAE). After his year of service as a National FFA Officer, he will return to the University of Missouri to study agricultural education and leadership.

Norfleet 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 Chris Chinn, Missouri Department of Agriculture director and National FFA Secretary Grant Norfleet. The second session speaker will be Christopher Daubert, vice chancellor and dean of the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.

Margie Vandeven, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education commissioner will speak in the third general session.

The fifth session will include remarks from Mun Choi, president of the University of Missouri and a keynote address from Governor Michael L. Parson. Parson was sworn in as Missouri’s 57th Governor on June 1, 2018.

The Missouri FFA Association has 26,830 members in 362 chapters. FFA strives to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

#  #  #