The Friday Footnote welcomes Dr. John Tummons, a professor of agricultural education and leadership at the University of Missouri as the guest columnist this week (and next week). Take it away Dr. Tummons.
Personal note: I am a product of Missouri Agricultural Education. Thanks to Dr. Moore for the invitation to share a bit of our story here. A Missourian has served as the National FFA advisor for more than half my life, so I was curious to what extent the ‘Missouri model’ of Agricultural Education was brought to the national level by these advisors. Thanks to Dr. Larry Case, Dr. Steve Brown, and Dr. Terry Heiman for sharing your stories.
As we learned in the October 24, 2025 Footnote, Missouri was the birthplace of the Future Farmers of America (National FFA Organization) and hosted the National Convention in Kansas City from 1928-1998. Missouri, and Missouri Agricultural Educators, have played an important role in shaping the work of Agricultural Education.
Figure 1. Vocational agriculture students in Missouri wore caps such as this one in the 1920s. The manufacturer of the hat was Lowe and Campbell Athletic Wear Company which was headquartered at 15th and Baltimore in downtown Kansas City.
Of the 97 years of the National FFA Organization, three former Missouri Agricultural Education state staff have served as National FFA Advisor for 47 of those years. Dr. W. T. (Bill) Spanton (advisor 1941-1951) served as Missouri State Supervisor from 1920-1925 before becoming a Federal agent (Pacific region) for the Federal Board for Vocational Education (Stimson & Lathrop, 1942). Dr. Larry Case (advisor 1984-2010) served as district supervisor, Missouri Director of Agricultural Education and state FFA advisor from 1977-1984. Dr. Steve A. Brown (advisor 2010-2020) served as Missouri FFA Executive Secretary and district supervisor from 1985-2008. Brown also served as National FFA Executive Secretary from 2008-2010. I took this opportunity to find out how Dr. Case and Dr. Brown’s Missouri Agricultural Education experiences shaped the direction of the National FFA organization during their tenure.
Figure 2. Left – W. T. Spanton, Center – Larry Case, Right – Steve Brown
Dr. W. T. Spanton was named as one of the top ten greatest individuals in the history of our profession (Camp & Crunkilton, 1985). During his time as Federal Agent for Vocational Education, Spanton organized the judging events in Kansas City in 1926 and 1927 (Tummons et al., 2017) and drafted the constitution that was approved at the initial meeting of the Future Farmers of America in 1928 (Camp & Crunkilton, 1985). Spanton’s 1932 dissertation lists authorship of multiple technical publications, Agricultural Education Magazine articles, and reports of State Supervision.
In 1958 over 200 business leaders in Kansas City met at the Hotel Muehlebach to honor W. T. Spanton. It was noted that Spanton was at the first meeting of the National Congress of Vocational Agriculture Students in 1926 and had been back every year since. He was instrumental in guiding the FFA from a handful of students to over 400,000 members. In the tribute to Spanton it was said (Kansas City Times, October 9, 1958, p. 3):
This is the man who has encouraged youth to lead with responsibility. This is the man who is building even today the most magnificent of memorials because it is living. The hundreds of thousands of Future Farmers who measure up to the new challenges of American agriculture stand up as tribute to the quiet-voiced man with a pipe.
Figure 3. The Kansas City Times, October 7, 1958
Trouble Ahead
To describe the situation of Agricultural Education in the early 1980s as tense would be an understatement. The economic conditions in the late 1970s and early 1980s caused a farm crisis which destroyed rural economies. Many farmers were facing foreclosure and losing their farms and homes. The struggles of the agriculture economy were well publicized- the national 1979 tractor drive to Washington, D. C. and the 1985 Farm-Aid concert brought to light the plight of the American farmer. In addition to stagflation and low commodity prices, a parallel restructuring of the agriculture industry (think Case and International Harvester Tractors, etc.) consolidated many firms and agriculture service jobs. These changes led to the public view of agriculture as a dying industry (Case & Rawls, 1989). The outlook for Future Farmers was grim. Vocational Agriculture enrollment and FFA membership dwindled- “farmers were not allowing their children to enroll in the program, and there were fewer farm families” (p 170, Case, 2024).
Within education, the 1983 U.S. Department of Education report A Nation at Risk, painted a grim picture of Americans falling behind in educating its population. In response to this report, many schools increased the academic core requirements for high school students. One of the consequences of this movement was to decrease the number of elective credits available to high school students, which further reduced student enrollment in Vocational Agriculture classes.
Figure 4. A Nation at Risk
Agricultural Education was in trouble. At the 1982 NASAE (National Association of Supervisors of Agricultural Education) meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Byron Rawls, the senior program specialist in Agricultural Education at the United States Department of Education and National FFA Advisor, presented the concept of developing a National Council for Agricultural Education. The Council was brought together to ensure a national voice for the profession in a time where the President had promised to abolish the Department of Education (Case & Rawls, 1989). The task of forming the Council was delegated to a committee led by Thaine McCormick, director of vocational education. Dr. Larry Case, Director of Agricultural Education for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), was serving as the NASAE Secretary/Treasurer at this meeting. Soon after, Mr. Rawls opted for early retirement during a reduction in force. In January of 1984, two important acts happened at the first Council meeting in Kansas City: McCormick announced Dr. Case as the senior program specialist for the United States Department of Education (USDE) and the National FFA Advisor at the first Council meeting, and Dr. Case was also elected as the chair for the newly formed Council.
Figure 5. National Council for Agricultural Education
Case grew up in Stet, Missouri, where he was an active agriculture student, FFA member, and served as a state FFA officer. After graduating from the University of Missouri with a BS in Agricultural Education in 1966, Case began his teaching career in Mendon, Missouri. Case also served as agriculture teacher in Orrick (Dr. Steve Brown’s hometown) and Lexington; he served as the inaugural director of the Lex-La Ray Vocational Technical School. In 1977, Mr. Raymond Hagan, district supervisor and FFA executive secretary, reached out to Larry and asked him to apply for a job as district supervisor with DESE. Larry accepted the job and started working in Jefferson City on July 1, 1977. Dr. Case earned his MS and EdD in Agricultural Education from the University of Missouri. One year later, Case was promoted to Director of Agricultural Education and served until 1984, when he moved to the USDE. Dr. Terry Heiman was hired to replace Case. Heiman followed Larry as director of Agricultural Education for Missouri from 1984 to 2011.
Case reflected on the challenging environment in which he began his leadership at the national level. A key message from those early years was Vocational Agriculture and the Future Farmers of America would cease to exist without substantial changes. “We were losing members as fast as we could, and we got down to 375,000 versus 510,000 at the top. And we had to broaden the instructional program in order to save our souls”, said Case. Case was excited about the Council and felt the Council’s role was to acknowledge the obvious and concerning trends in agriculture and Agricultural Education and take bold action to address.
On December 18, 1984, Secretary of Agriculture John Block and Secretary of Education Terrell Bell signed a joint commission of a “nationwide study to examine agricultural education at the secondary level, analyze its findings and make recommendations for program improvement”. (p. 175, Case, 2024). The report of the commission was “the green book”, Understanding agriculture: New directions for education, which called for foundational changes in what was taught, who we serve, and the identity of the National FFA organization. Case reflected on the importance of the green book: “That study was underfunded and slow to develop, but it was the launchpad for everything that followed.”
Figure 6. Understanding Agriculture New Directions for Education
I asked Case and Heiman about Missouri’s involvement in the early days of the Council and the subsequent changes in the profession. One interesting note is the concept of a collaborative group of agricultural education professionals, much like the Council, existed in Missouri Agricultural Education when Case joined DESE in 1977. Case reported Mr. Carl Humphrey, the director prior to him, started these meetings. In Missouri, this group is known as Joint State Staff and includes DESE staff, MVATA officers, and teacher educators from all institutions. Case led these statewide meetings in his time as Director of Agricultural Education. Although the process of creating the Council at the national level preceded Case’s leadership tenure at the national organization, Case did bring his experience leading a similar group in Missouri to his leadership at the Council.
The other key Missouri contribution during this time was led by Mr. Raymond Hagan. One of the recommendations from the green book was for the National FFA organization to update its policies and procedures “to bring us into the 21st century”, reported Case. Case asked Mr. Hagan to lead a task force to develop recommendations for updating the National FFA constitution. Mr. Hagan had once told Case “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have any of those jobs”. Case said, ” I returned the favor” and put him in charge of the proposed changes to the constitution. “I trusted Raymond, and I knew that he could be a forward thinker, and he [Hagan] was the one that could pull us out of the ditch”. Case saw Mr. Hagan as a progressive agriculturalist: “As long as Raymond was in that job, you would have thought he would have become pretty traditional. But I knew that he [Hagan] could think forward and that he would not be bound by tradition as much as some people would.”
Hagan’s task force drafted 19 constitutional amendments for discussion at the 1988 convention. I asked Case about Mr. Hagan’s involvement. He replied “Hagan oversaw it; wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t write them himself”. Eighteen of 19 amendments passed, the lone amendment held up was the reapportionment of the delegate representation. Dr. Terry Heiman served as parliamentarian for the delegate session. The 19th amendment eventually passed. According to Mr. Hagan’s biography, he was nominated by the Council to serve on Reagan’s Presidential committee for vocational agriculture to advise the President on current needs in vocational education (Hagan, 2014). Mr. Hagan served as DESE district supervisor from 1948 to 1984.
Looking Ahead
Dr. Tummons will continue educating us in next week’s Footnote. We will learn more about the three circle model, National Quality Program Standards, and leading change from the perspective of our national leaders from Missouri.
References
Camp, W. G., & Crunkilton, J. R. (1985). History Of Agricultural Education In America: The Great Individuals And Events. Journal of Agricultural Education, 26(1), 57–63. https://doi.org/10.5032/jaatea.1985.01057
Case, L.D., & Rawls, B.F. (December, 1989). The 1980’s in retrospect. The view from Washington. The Agricultural Education Magazine. 62(6). 6-7
Case, L.D. (2024). A thread of Blue Corduroy: My faith journey from Stet, Missouri to Washington, D.C. ISBN 979-8-35096-494-3
Hagan, R. D. (2014). My first one hundred years: Praying, aiming high, and staying focused. ISBN: 978149810617
Stimson, R. W. (1942). History of Agricultural Education of Less Than College Grade in the United States: A Cooperative Project of Workers in Vocational Education in Agricultural and in Related Fields. United States: Federal Security Agency.
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.