Agriculture plays a key role in society, and nowhere is that more evident than in the continuing growth of FFA and agricultural education. Today, the National FFA Organization announced a record-high student membership of 760,113, an increase from last year’s 700,170 members.

The top five student membership states are Texas, California, Georgia, Florida and Oklahoma. Interest in FFA and agricultural education continues to grow as membership continues to increase as well as the number of chapters. This year, the organization has more than 115,831 Latino members, more than 40,000 Black members and more than 12,000 members who are American Indian and Alaska Native. Forty-four percent of the membership is female, with 51 percent of the membership being male. FFA chapters can be found in 24 of the 25 largest U.S. cities.

The Oklahoma FFA Association has a total of 26,433 members this year- the fifth largest state FFA Association.

“The relevance of agriculture and the security of our country’s food, fiber and natural resources systems has never been more important,” said National FFA CEO Mark Poeschl. “Our FFA members are the future generation of leaders who will be making an impact in the industry. As we continue to bring agricultural education and FFA to more students, we see the enthusiasm of this generation reflected in the growth of our organization.”