The National FFA Organization began allowing junior high school (middle school) students to be FFA members in 1988. This was when delegates voted to open membership to seventh and eighth graders. A special FFA degree, the Discovery degree was created for the middle school members in 2000.
Figure 1. The Discovery Degree for Middle School FFA members.
However, Mississippi was way ahead of the curve in allowing younger students to be a part of the FFA. Even students as young as eight (8) years old could be affiliated with the state FFA in the 1970s. This decision predated the national FFA’s decision by more than a decade. The Mississippi Junior FFA Association was established in the 1970s. So what is the Junior FFA Association?
According to the Mississippi FFA Association website:
Mississippi is unique in that it is the ONLY state in the United States that offers membership into the Mississippi Junior FFA Association for students age 8 through the end of their 9th grade year in school for those students who cannot take an agricultural education course before the ninth grade. Junior members must pay local and state FFA dues and attend regularly scheduled Junior FFA meetings, which are sponsored by the local Agriculture Teacher/FFA Advisor.
In 2024-2025, the Mississippi FFA Association had 3,676 FFA Senior members in 104 local FFA Chapters and 489 Junior members in 24 local FFA Chapters, which is a total of 4,165 members. Mississippi was the 49th state to affiliate with the National FFA in 1934. The application to affiliate with the national organization can be found at this link – https://archives.indianapolis.iu.edu/bitstreams/1183be6f-3061-405f-81f3-bc0cdaaf48e5/download. The application even has a photo (with no caption) that might be a picture of the inaugural members of the Mississippi FFA Association.
The Mississippi Junior FFA Association
In an article published in the Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Mississippi on May 30, 1976, the headlines read “1000 to State FFA Convention at MSU.” Toward the bottom of the article we learn the Junior FFA will also be at the convention. There is a statement “Organized only two years ago, the Junior FFA has nearly 1,000 members across the state and was the first junior association organized in the country.” See Figure 2. This would indicate the Junior FFA was established in 1974. However, there are earlier mentions of a Junior FFA in Mississippi in newspapers prior to 1974.
Figure 2. Clarion-Ledger, May 30, 1976
An article from 1972 in the Magee (MS) Courier describes the activities of the Junior FFA at Magee Junior High. A variety of shop projects are mentioned along with the fact that the junior FFA members have farming projects. See Figure 3.
Figure 3. From the Magee Courier, April 13, 1972. Please note the date. This was long before the National FFA recognized middle school members.
While students as young as eight years old could belong, it appears, based upon newspaper accounts, most of the members were in junior high school.
In this day and age, most school districts have separate schools for high school students and separate schools for middle school students. However, this was not always the case. It was not uncommon fifty years ago to have schools with grades 1-12 in the same building. Allowing only students in grades 9-12 to be in the FFA might pose a problem in some schools as younger students might want to also join. Thus, allowing middle school students (or even younger students) to be in the FFA would make sense.
Having a junior FFA might also be a conduit for recruiting students into agricultural education and the FFA when they enter high school. Apparently, this was the case in Quitman, Mississippi in 1978. In that year the Quitman FFA decided to expand its program by adding a Junior FFA Chapter. See Figure 4.
Figure 4. The Clark County Tribune, Quitman, MS. February 24, 1978.
Having a junior FFA could also be considered a training ground for students so when they enter high school, they have experience in various FFA activities under their belt. On the Mississippi Junior FFA Association Facebook page a posting in 2020 shows that Byron Lopez of Pine Grove is the state Junior FFA Association president. Fast forward to today and we learn from looking at the Mississippi FFA Association Facebook page that Byron Lopez is now the state President of the FFA. It appears that his experience as a Junior FFA officer provided the springboard for today. See Figure 5.
Figure 5. The image to the left is from 2020 and the image to the right is from 2025. Both images are from Facebook.
If the Junior FFA prepares students for the future, the Poplarville, Mississippi FFA probably fared well in the 1980s in dairy products, farm management, poultry judging and meats judging based on the junior FFA members’ placing in the state contests in 1985. See Figure 6.
Figure 6. The Poplarville Democrat, May 16, 1985.
Concluding Remarks
There is an old adage about the desirability of thinking outside the box. This means to approach a problem or situation with a creative, innovative, and unconventional mindset, breaking free from established assumptions and traditional patterns of thought. It appears this is what the Mississippi FFA did in the 1970s with the creation of the Mississippi Junior FFA Association.
Even though the FFA has a long history with many traditions it never hurts to critically examine what we do and consider new and innovative ideas. That is how we will make progress in the future.