Texas tops the list of states with the largest FFA membership with 81,694 students, followed by California with 70, 555, Georgia with 31,616, Missouri with 25,096 and Oklahoma with 23,562. The 10 largest FFA chapters are all in California.
Texas also tops all states for largest FFA membership growth during the 2010-11 school year, followed by California, North Carolina, Georgia and Utah.
In the past year, more than 17,000 new students have joined FFA, setting a new all-time high in the organization’s membership since the organization was founded in 1928.
During the 2010-11 school year, FFA membership grew to a record 540,379 students, up 17,070 students from 523,309 members in the 2009-10 school year. The number of FFA chapters in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands also grew with the creation of 106 new, chartered FFA chapters.
FFA was also in the news recently when National FFA officers and State FFA officers from Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin were present at the recent Rural Economic Forum, to hear remarks by President Obama. The Forum was hosted by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta, Iowa. During the President’s remarks, he pointed out the FFA members in the audience and said that with their enthusiasm and energy, they are ready to take American agriculture to the next level. Video of remarks
FFA is a Career Technical Education (CTE) student organization, a CTE partner organization to NASDCTEc. 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. The National Career Clustersâ„¢ Framework includes Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources as one of the Career Clustersâ„¢.
Ramona Schescke, Member Services Manager