Most of the published history of the Future Farmers of America (FFA) starts with the Future Farmers of Virginia (FFV).
In September of 1925 four agricultural educators met on the campus of Virginia Tech and decided to establish the Future Farmers of Virginia. (Hillison, 2025). At the annual vocational rally held at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute on April 22-24, 1926, the 500 students and teachers at the rally were unanimous and enthusiastic in their approval of the proposed new organization (even though there was not yet a constitution or bylaws). The constitution and by-laws for the FFV were presented to the Virginia agriculture teachers at their annual conference in June of 1926 and approved. (Bryant, 2001).
So, when was the “official” start date for the Future Farmers of Virginia? An article published by Magill in 1931 in Chapter Chats, the newsletter of the Future Farmers of Virginia, titled “Future Farmers in Virginia Celebrate Fifth Anniversary” states (p. 1):
Future Farmers in Virginia may celebrate this year, 1931, as their fifth anniversary. The moment of actual birth is difficult to determine.
The author of the article then points to various dates as being possible dates for the founding of the FFV before settling on April 1926 as the appropriate date.
Bur Virginia was not the first state with a statewide organization of vocational agriculture students. Several states (Ohio, Utah, New York, California) preceded Virginia in establishing state wide agriculture student organizations. New Jersey was one of those states. The Young Farmers Association of New Jersey was established in 1923. In this Footnote we will learn more about the Young Farmers Association of New Jersey. They have largely flown under the profession’s radar.
But before we learn about the Young Farmers I wanted to share a note I received about last week’s footnote about Leslie Applegate. Here it is:
Gary
Thank you for including the photo of Allentown FFA members recognizing and remembering Leslie Applegate’s leadership role not only for FFA but the Agricultural industry in general. Proud to say the tradition started in 1970 and continues even today
Thanks again, V. Jacque Roszel, Allentown FFA Advisor 1972-2009
Wow! The Allentown FFA members have been placing flowers on Leslie Applegate’s grave for more than 50 years. That personifies the “Living to Serve” last line of the FFA Motto.
In the Beginning
A state wide judging contest for vocational agriculture students was conducted in December of 1923 at the State College of Agriculture (now Rutgers University). Some three hundred students were involved in the contests. At this time a decision was made to establish a Young Farmers’ Association of New Jersey.
This decision was not made out of the blue. Prior to this time several agricultural departments in the state had organized local young farmer associations. In describing the history of the Young Farmers it was reported (The Future Farmer’s Yearbook, 1930, p. 2) “These boys were members of local young farmer associations made up of the boys in the agricultural classes. They had learned first hand some of the advantages of a group organization. Accordingly, when someone suggested that a state organization to act as a parent to the local groups would be advantageous, the boys immediately took to the idea, formulating a constitution and by-laws and organized what they called ‘The Young Farmers Association of New Jersey.’”
At the 1923 judging contest a committee was appointed to create a constitution and bylaws which was then adopted by the students. Any boy or girl regularly enrolled in a high school agriculture class was eligible to belong to the Association. Officers were elected for the following year. The Young Farmers Association of New Jersey was off and running in December of 1923.
High schools that did not already have a Young Farmers organization were encouraged to establish local chapters of the Young Farmers Association. The Bridgeton Evening News carried a rather lengthy account of the formation of the Young Farmers Association at the Hopewell Township High School at Shiloh in April of 1924. The article even included the constitution and bylaws along with the order of business for the local group. Some of the highlights of the article include:
- The chief object of the organization was to promote leadership activities, parliamentary practice, public speaking and debate.
- Monthly dues were five cents. If a member did not pay dues for three consecutive months, they were no longer members.
- Meetings were to be held on the first Friday of the month during the 6th class period.
- Both current students and past students in the agriculture department could be members.
See Figure 1 for more information.
Figure 1. Bridgeton Evening News. April 14, 1924. The Bylaws and Order of business are not shown to conserve space.
A business meeting of the state Young Farmers Association was conducted in conjunction with the state judging contests at the State College of Agriculture in October of 1924. This would have been the second statewide meeting. An article in The Bridgeton Evening News (November 15, 1924) reported the following:
Figure 2, Bridgeton Evening News, November 15, 1924
Having seventeen schools with chapters one year after the State Association was founded is notable.
New Jersey Affiliates with the National FFA
When New Jersey applied for a charter from the National FFA on November 8, 1928 (this was 12 days before the national FFA was officially established) they did so using the name of the Young Farmers Association of New Jersey on the application. The application included the constitution and bylaws of the state association. Article 1 Name and Purposes of the Organization stated:
Section A. The name of this organization shall be the Young Farmers Association of New Jersey, a branch of the “Future Farmers of America.”
New Jersey was the 3rd state to receive a national charter from the FFA. It was dated November 20, 1928 – the date of the founding of the National Future Farmers. Virginia received charter #1 and Arkansas received charter #2.
Figure 3. The National FFA Charter for New Jersey.
To see the New Jersey charter application go to https://archives.indianapolis.iu.edu/bitstreams/501ae588-39dd-4cc9-a459-54da4a1f4cb8/download. It is interesting to note that Leslie Applegate was vice-president of the New Jersey Young Farmers at the time of the application.
The Yearbook
Soon after the establishment of the Young Farmers Association of New Jersey, an annual yearbook was published. The first edition was published in 1924, but it is interesting to note the words Future Farmers were on the cover.
Figure 4. Yearbook covers of the NJ Young Farmers Association for 1926, 1928 and 1930
What was the purpose of the Yearbook? In the 1930 Yearbook we learn:
Our purpose in publishing this yearbook is to tell the friends of vocational education in agriculture something about the New Jersey branch of the Future Farmers of America. Read the pages that follow and we know you will agree with us when we state that this organization has wonderful possibilities for the development of boys who are studying vocational agriculture as a part of their high school education.
A typical edition of the Yearbook had a collection of short essays designed to motivate and educate students. The 1926 Yearbook featured:
- A Message to the Farm Youth of New Jersey – From the State Commissioner of Education
- The Purpose of Vocational Education in Agriculture – From the Assistant Commissioner of Education
- Brighter Times Ahead for Farm Boys – From the President of Rutgers University
- Why Study Vocational Agriculture – From the State Supervisor of Agricultural Education
- Why Vocational Students Should Go to College – From a Rutgers Student
- Co-Operating With the Farm Boy – From the State Secretary of Agriculture
- Benefit of Group Organization – From the Secretary of the New Jersey Federation of County Boards of Agriculture
These essays were followed with news of state events and reports from the various Young Farmer chapters of the state.
Concluding Remarks
As we approach the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Future Farmers of America it would be appropriate for each state to document their history. As I write these Footnotes my knowledge of our profession grows and grows. For example, who knew that New Jersey had a statewide agricultural student organization several years before Virginia. I discover new facts on a weekly basis.
If you look carefully at the Yearbook covers, you will notice this image on the cover.
David Laatsch, a retired agriculture teacher in Wisconsin, sent me an image of a metal fob some years ago (See below). Now I am wondering what is the history of this?
References
Bryant, Bradley, W. (2001).History of the Virginia FFA Association. Doctoral Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Hillison, J. (2025). How the FFV and FFA Got Started. The Friday Footnote, 2/21/25.
Magill, E. C. (1931, March). Future Farmers in Virginia Celebrate Fifth Anniversary, Chapter Chats.
The Future Farmer’s Yearbook 1926 The Young Farmers Association of New Jersey
The Future Farmer’s Yearbook 1930 The Young Farmers Association of New Jersey