This Is National FFA Week

More than half a million FFA members in all 50 states are celebrating National FFA Week. Each year National FFA Week is from Saturday to Saturday surrounding President George Washington's birthday which is February 22nd. This week-long tradition began in 1948 to recognize Washington's legacy as an agriculturist and farmer.

FFA chapters in our area have all kinds of special activities scheduled. This week Monday through Friday you will hear FFA members from our area on the air explaining how they got involved in the FFA, things they have been able to experience because they joined the FFA, what the FFA means to them and special activities they have planned for National FFA Week.

When the FFA was founded in 1948, and even when I was a member in the early 1970's, almost all FFA members were living on farms and planned to be in production agriculture. Today the FFA is much more than Future Farmers of America. There are a tremendous number of careers in agriculture in addition to planting and harvesting a crop or raising livestock!

Agriculture today needs plant breeders, plant pathologists, chemists, agronomists, animal breeders and nutritionists, sales people to sell seed, herbicides, machinery and equipment, truck drivers, veterinarians, food processors, computer programmers, the list goes on and on! I hope you enjoy hearing FFA members on the air this week!