Focusing on the History of Agricultural Education and Rural America
Unionville, Missouri is a small town (population 1,735) in northeast Missouri. It is five miles south of the Iowa state line and is located in Putnam County (See Figure 1). It is noted for quality livestock (primarily beef cattle and Continue reading The Trip to Unionville, Missouri (10/31/2025)
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 Continue reading The Birthplace of the FFA – Missouri (10/24/2025)
For the next several weeks the Friday Footnote will be visiting Missouri – The Show Me State. It will be interesting to learn what the Show Me State has to show us about agricultural and extension education. A few weeks Continue reading The Boys’ State Fair School in Missouri (10/17/2025)
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 Continue reading What is the Mississippi Junior FFA Association? (10/10/2025)
Did this headline from 1943 catch your attention? Recently one of my colleagues who has spent most of his life in the northern part of the country contacted me. He had never heard of a Negro State Fair. To say Continue reading The Segregated Agricultural Fairs (10/3/2025)