It is widely acknowledged and documented that the Future Farmers of America was modeled after the Future Farmers of Virginia. However, Missouri could claim to be the birthplace of the FFA since the organizational meeting occurred in Kansas City, Missouri in 1928.
In The Beginning
After the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 student agricultural clubs started popping up in states across the nation. They went by a variety of names such as Junior Farmers, the Agricola Club, Future Farmers, Young Farmers, and the list goes on. During the late 1910s and 1920s it was not uncommon to have regional and state level assemblies of agricultural students where they would compete in judging and athletic contests.
State wide judging contests were held in Virginia and Alabama in 1919 and in Nebraska, New Mexico and North Carolina in 1920 (Tenney, 1978). See Figure 1.
Figure 1. Left: From the Birmingham Post-Herald, October 2, 1919. Right: From the Raleigh (NC) News and Observer, October 8, 1920. For more information about Segregated State Fairs read the Friday Footnote for 10/2/2025.
Teachers whose students excelled in judging contests at the state level wondered how their students would fare in competition with other states. At the 1924 annual meeting of the National Society for Vocational Education (now the Association for Career and Technical Education) the agricultural education section appointed a committee to explore having a national dairy judging contest. The committee met with officials of the National Dairy Show which was to be held in Indianapolis in October of 1925. An agreement was reached and a national dairy judging contest for vocational agricultural students was conducted in October of 1925.
Eighteen vocational agriculture teams were entered in the 1925 contest (some sources say 17 teams competed). The dairy judging team from Keytesville, Missouri won the competition. See Figure 2.
Figure 2. From the Brookfield (MO) Gazette, October 30, 1925.
The Tenth Annual Report to Congress of the Federal Board for Vocational Education for 1926 contained three pages (pages 81-83) of information about the judging contests held for vocational agriculture students at the state and regional levels. It was reported that (p. 81) “…nearly every state in the [Southern] region holds an annual judging contest of some kind.” In other parts of the country students participated in judging contests held in conjunction with such events at the Rocky Mountain Livestock Show and the Pacific International show. For more information about these judging events follow the link in the references below.
C. H. Lane, a federal agricultural education official, traveled to Kansas City in 1926 to meet with the American Royal leadership about hosting a livestock judging contest for vocational agriculture students during the American Royal show in November. The American Royal officials enthusiastically agreed to do so starting in 1926.
The decision was made to add additional events to the judging contest and have a three day education event called the National Congress of Vocational Agriculture Students. The first Congress was from November 15-17. 1926 in conjunction with the America Royal. The Congress was attended by 1,545 students from 22 states. Approximately 1,100 of the vocational agriculture students were from 55 Missouri schools. The livestock judging team from Oklahoma placed first. See Figures 3 & 4.
Figure 3. From the Norborne (MO) Democrat and the Leader, December 17, 1926
Figure 4: The badge worn by Ag students at the National Congress. Image courtesy of David Laatsch.
The Talks Intensify
During 1927 discussions about a national organization of vocational agriculture students intensified. At the North Atlantic Regional Meeting of agricultural educators in February of 1927 W. J. Weaver of New York reported on the student agricultural clubs in New York and suggested that (Stimson and Lathrop, 1942, p. 533) “…a national association might be a worthy move.”
At the Southern Regional meeting of agricultural educators in March of 1927 in San Antonio a resolution was passed calling for each southern state to establish a state organization of “Future Farmers.” The resolution also stated that this action be reported to other regional conferences.
In the summer of 1927 Henry Groseclose of Virginia conducted a survey of states and learned that 12 states had state wide young farmer organizations. He also learned that fifteen other states had local clubs of young farmers.
The Second Annual Congress of Vocational Agriculture Students was held in November of 1927 in conjunction with the American Royal in Kansas City. Approximately 2,000 students from 28 states were in attendance and participated in livestock judging and meat identification and other educational activities.
A constitution and bylaws for the national congress was adopted in 1927. The document focused primarily on the rules and regulations of the judging contests (Tummons, Simonsen, & Martin, 2017).
The National Future Farmers of America Becomes a Reality
At the regional conferences of agricultural educators in 1928 the idea of a national association of vocational agriculture students was a hot topic (Stimson & Lathrop, 1942):
- At the North Atlantic Regional Conference in February the young farmer activities in New York and Ohio were discussed.
- At the March meeting of the Southern Region in Memphis a proposal to establish the Future Farmers of Dixie was approved with the caveat that if a national organization emerged, the plan to establish the Future Farmers of Dixie would not proceed.
- At the North Central Region meeting in Des Moines in March it was recommended that if a national organization of vocational agricultural students were to come into existence it should be known as an organization and not a club, there should be no secret rituals, and the Federal Board for Vocational Education should copyright the name “Future Farmers.” It was also suggested that the operation of the clubs be led by the boys and teachers should be “guiding rather than dictating.”
- At the Western Region meeting in Denver in April/May it was recommended that officials with the Federal Board for Vocational Education proceed with drawing up plans (constitution and bylaws) for a national organization of vocational agriculture students.
During the summer of 1928 the federal agricultural education officials worked on a temporary constitution patterned after the Future Farmers of Virginia. Mr. Newman and Groseclose of Virginia were called in to advise. In the fall of 1928 the tentative constitution was mailed to the states along with a call for the first national convention to be held in conjunction with the National Congress of Vocational Agriculture Students in Kansas City.
On Tuesday, November 20, 1928 delegates from 20 states met at the Hotel Baltimore in Kansas City and voted to establish the Future Farmers of America. And, as they say, the rest is history. See Figures 5 & 6.
Figure 5. From the Joplin, Missouri Globe. November 21, 1928.
Figure 6. Historical Marker in Kansas City, Missouri
Conclusion
Even after the FFA was officially established the annual national FFA conventions were still identified as the National Congress of Vocational Agriculture Students. The September 1935 AVA Journal and News Bulletin contained the following (p. 58):
Figure 7, September 1935 AVA Journal and News Bulletin
Designating the National FFA Convention as a National Congress for Vo Ag Students was dropped around 1937. In that year the convention had outgrown the Hotel Baltimore and moved to the new Municipal Auditorium where it continued to meet until 1998.
The Show-Me State can boast of being the home of the National Future Farmers of America.
References
Federal Board for Vocational Education (1926). Tenth Annual Report to Congress of the Federal Board for Vocational Education. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Stimson, R.W., & Lathrop, F.W. (1942). History of agricultural education of less than college grade in the United States. Washington, DC; United States Government Printing Office.
Tenney, A. W. (1978). The FFA at 50. Alexandria, VA: National FFA Center
Tummons, J. D., Simonsen, J. C., & Martin, M. J. (2017). Role of the Agricultural Industry and Judging Events in Formation of the Future Farmers of America. Journal of Agricultural Education, 58(1), 236–250. https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.2017.01236