Youth News
National FFA Advisor Steve Brown Casts a Vision for the Future of FFA
Thu, 29 Oct 2015 11:36:21 CDT
The National FFA Organization is celebrating a landmark year at the 2015 National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. The National FFA organization has achieved a record membership of over 629,000 students. National FFA advisor Dr. Steve Brown said the growth stems from growing opportunities in agriculture to provide food and clothing for an increasing world population.
"We know with the growing population, looking at nine billion in the year 2050, that we have a lot of work to do and a lot of food to produce in order to feed a hungry world," Brown said.
The National FFA Organization is working to develop students that will work in production agriculture, processing or agribusiness. Right now there is a growing need to develop students with employable skills. Brown said there are several reasons why FFA students are in high demand by employers.
"I think they find the communication skills, the leadership skills and the personal development that these students receive as a part of being in agricultural education in our public schools across this country gives them the skills, the team work skills, the employability skills that employers like to have and want in their business and their line of work," Brown said.
Radio Oklahoma Network Farm Director Ron Hays interviewed Brown at the National FFA Convention. You can hear that conversation by clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
This year also marks the last time the National FFA Convention and Expo will be held in Louisville. This summer the National FFA Organization announced it will be moving its National FFA Convention & Expo to Indianapolis for 2016-2024. Brown commended Louisville for being an excellent host to the National FFA organization. In looking at the future growth and attendance of the convention, he said they are needing a bigger facility.
"We just feel like the Indianapolis venue may be able to meet our needs a little better, because if we continue to grow we're going to busting at the seams here in Louisville," Brown said. "And so, that's the reason we made the decision is because the potential growth that we have in moving to that other city."
The National FFA Convention has only been held in three cities since its inception. The National FFA Convention took place in Kansas City, Mo., from 1928-1998. Louisville then hosted the event from 1999 to 2005, with Indianapolis being the host city from 2006-2012. In 2009, the organization announced the national convention and expo would rotate every three years between Indianapolis and Louisville, with Louisville hosting the event 2013-2015 and Indianapolis hosting the event 2016-2018.
Our exclusive coverage of the 2015 National FFA Convention in Louisville is a service of ITC, Your Energy Superhighway. Learn more about ITC Great Plains, LLC by clicking here. We also appreciate the support of the Oklahoma FFA Association and the Oklahoma FFA Alumni Association. Click here for more information about one of the top states in the US in the FFA- the Oklahoma FFA Association. Oklahoma FFA impacts the lives of 27,154 members in 359 chapters across the state.
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