Montana FFA excels at national convention

Press release

Montana FFA members recently returned from participation at the National FFA Convention and Expo held in Indianapolis.

Approximately 650 Montana students attended the convention where they engaged in competitions, leadership workshops, tours and educational seminars. This annual event attracted almost 70,000 members from across the nation.

The Broadwater FFA Chapter from Townsend placed third at the National FFA Livestock Judging Competition and the Ruby Valley FFA Chapter from Sheridan placed sixth in the National FFA Agriculture Mechanics contest. These were the only teams from Montana placing in the top ten.

The following are the results of how the other chapters fared during this year’s national convention. Floriculture — Missoula — Silver; Marketing plan — Electric City — Bronze; Conduct of meetings — Shepherd — Silver; Parliamentary Procedure — Kalispell — Silver; Environmental and Natural Resource Management — Big Timber — Bronze; Creed — Hinsdale — Bronze; Extemporaneous Speaking — Electric City — Bronze; Employment skills — Corvallis — Bronze; Prepared Speaking — Victor — Bronze; Forestry — Missoula — Silver; Agronomy — Choteau — Silver; Ag Issues — Electric City — Bronze; Farm Business Management — Missoula — Silver; Food Science — Forsyth — Bronze; Ag Sales — Cascade — Bronze; Vet Science — Kalispell — Gold; Meats — Kalispell — Bronze; Ag Comm — Electric City — Bronze, and Horse — Kalispell — Bronze.

Gold, Silver and Bronze ratings represent roughly the top, the middle and the lower third of teams participating.

In addition to the contest placings, 35 members received the American FFA Degree. This degree is the highest degree that can be bestowed upon a member and represents at least five years of dedicated participation in the FFA organization.

The State FFA Officers have been actively attending FFA activities across the state. They have judged, presented, scored tests, served as group leaders and conducted workshops at the Ruby Valley Invitational in Sheridan, the NILE in Billings, the Glacier District Greenhand Seminar in Choteau, and the Young Ag Leaders Conference in Billings.

The next event for Montana’s FFA Members will be the Montana John Deere Ag Expo, a regional activity set for Nov. 15-17. At the expo, hundreds of high school students from throughout the Northwest will gather on the Montana State University campus in Bozeman. Organized by the Montana FFA Foundation, the John Deere Ag Expo features a variety of contests and opportunities for youth to learn about agriculture in Montana. This is the second-largest FFA gathering to occur each year.