# FFA - how does it work?



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Ok, so my oldest daughter just started high school yesterday. She has FFA for the first 8 weeks, paid her membership fee, etc. 

But I don't know anything about it lol I know what it stands for, but I don't know... are there monthly meetings? I am only familiar with how 4-H works. 

I know she's looking forward to it, plus they are going on a field trip tomorrow to the State Fair, so needless to say she's very excited about that, as my kids have not yet been to the state fair before.


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## thatgoatshower (Aug 15, 2013)

Hey there! 

County to county differs, along with school to school; however, there are usually monthly meets at the high school itself, where Ag teachers & volunteers will host. Actually, my first year I ever showed, we had a potluck meeting & it was a whole bunch of fun; after that particular meeting, we went outside and all of us older kids held games for the junior ffa kids. 

Just like 4h, in FFA you can show rabbits, chickens, cattle, goats, sheep, and so on; I've stuck with goats (they're the best). 

The first show should be a county show, somewhere around Jan-March, depending on your location; mine is the last day of Feb & the first of March. This show will be full with FFA students from all over your county. 

There will then be other shows to attend, along with extra shows you can sign up for for practice. At the end, if you place, there with be an auction, where your daughter can make a bit of money. 

Of course, the better you are at choosing a goat, raising a goat, training, showing, and grooming, the more likely you are to place & sell. If your daughter does her research, tries her best, and has fun, she'll probably be successful at the auction. 

Your daughter will have a lot of fun! Good luck to you both! I'm sorry if any of this info is incorrect because of your location. Remember to read show rules before entering & showing.


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

From the little ******* town i live in, there is only one middle school and one high school and 3 elementary schools that join to make up the higher grades. So bigger counties might do things different. 

Here the middle school has an FFA program with one teacher and one basic class. They have officers and compete in competitions but it mostly just to get us ready for high school and is basically just for fun.

Then in high school, we have 2 ag teachers one teaches basic ag, ag mechanics, and animal science. Then the other teaches basic ag, floriculture, and forestry. Here our major events are competitions like dairy, livestock, or horse judging but there is over 100 different competitions, it just matters what your county does. Then there is showing, fundraisers, and trips. It's really fun i made alot of friends, get to travel all over, and a pile of other fun stuff.

It sounds like she will really like it.


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## Stacie1205 (Mar 26, 2011)

Why is it for just the first 8 weeks? Doesn't seem like enough time to do much. Since she is just entering is it an intro. to FFa with the option to continue? Or does she take something else the next 8 weeks? Many moons ago when I was in high school, Freshmen had FFA, then FHA, and 2 other things I guess for an intro to different things in High school. But that was way back in the 80's, lol.


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## emilieanne (Oct 15, 2012)

I think there might be a mix up .. 

When you pay your dues to FFA, you are a member for the whole year. She might have Ag class and for the first 8 weeks they are studying FFA? 
I am a little confused lol. 
Here in Florida, you have to have Ag to be in ffa. You can go one year without Ag being a member in FFA. 
You can compete in whatever you like. 
There is monthly weekly or even daily meetings. It all depends on each advisor! 
For shows, it will vary state to state. 
Hmm. What else to say..... 
FFA is GREAT! I suggest she jump in and learn ASAP!! by high school, (down here) we usually know a lot of people so the people might be a little fast paced but 9/10 times, FFA members are great and welcome any new members with open arms!! 
I hope she has a great year


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

I hope she has a better experience than I did. I did crops when I was in FFA and it was fun! Until nobody told me when the practices were.  I'm not rejoining despite the fact we got a new advisor. I started asking questions to the other kids in it and they got short with me about it, so mom and dad said no. I really, really want to be a part of it, but I don't want to be crapped on all over again. Maybe yours will be different and be more open and welcoming.


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## thatgoatshower (Aug 15, 2013)

This is exactly what I was wondering.. In my county, unless you are in junior FFA (8th grade and younger), you must attend some sort of Ag class to be in FFA. FFA memberships last an entire year, 8 weeks is not long enough to show anything. Maybe it'd be best to talk to her high schools Ag teacher/s


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks Everyone. I now have the FFA teacher's email so I can email her and find out about meetings, etc.
I wasn't sure if it worked similar to 4-H. The kids 4-H livestock club meets 2x a month.

I don't particularly care for the scheduling in the schools. Yep she only has the FFA class for the first 8-10 weeks of school, then the second 'trimester' she'll go into another Science class. 
IMO it should be 1/2 year at least, then second 1/2, switch.

So far she seems to really enjoy the class and classmates. She was very very excited about the field trip today, so I hope she's having a great time  I meant to send an old camera with her, but forgot to pick up batteries.

The market goats should be arriving so she might get to see them. I know the market goat showmanship classes are this evening, then market goat classes tomorrow. Which is the kids goal for next year.

I really need to sit down and read more about the FFA, I really want her to do well, and praying she might find something she can be happy to make a career out of. She just hasn't had any interests at all other than taking care of her goats & showing them.


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

I don't see a problem in that. I'm just like Jess in that aspect. I love my goats and I actually really don't give two hoots if I learn anything about pigs, cows, dogs, cats ect. in vet school. I just want to learn about goats and specialize in being a strictly goat vet only. That sounds terrible, but it's true! I already know so much about goats, but I want to know so much more!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

caprine crazy said:


> I don't see a problem in that. I'm just like Jess in that aspect. I love my goats and I actually really don't give two hoots if I learn anything about pigs, cows, dogs, cats ect. in vet school. I just want to learn about goats and specialize in being a strictly goat vet only. That sounds terrible, but it's true! I already know so much about goats, but I want to know so much more!


I hear ya, but... to make a career out of it, you really have to learn about a variety of animals. That's what's wrong with finding vets these days, there are so many with limitations on what they have knowledge in.
Our vet is a cattle/sheep vet, but he's been great at helping us with the goats when we've needed him.

In our area, horse vets are what is in demand. This is horse heaven. BUT.. IMO a vet that can do horses, cattle, sheep and goats would be great! The horse vets here are strictly horses, and some do cattle. The vet we use is in the county north of us. About a 20 minute drive to their office, they have dog/cat vets and then this large animal vet.

In our county, I pretty much called every single vet and none would look at goats. A couple would do health papers, but they wanted to charge too much for one, I think the reason being as they don't really want to do them.


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## thatgoatshower (Aug 15, 2013)

I'm actually planning on being a veterinarian myself; however, I have not decided what specialization or anything yet. While I'd love to work with horses, goats, cattle, sheep, etc (after all, I'm an equestrian, goat shower, goat&cattle breeder), it can & will be dangerous to go out to random people's ranches and work with livestock. So, weighting the options, I can see why many prefer to work with smaller animals. I think I'm still going to work with livestock, but they'll have to be brought to me (I've seen a couple VERY successful clinics like this).


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## OakHollowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

This is my third year in FFA, and I am a Reporter this year. In our club, we do not have to pay any fees to be included in the chapter. My school offers ag leadership, animal science, ag bio, intro to ag, welding, equine science, and more. If you are in one of these classes, you are technically in FFA. Every kid is supposed to have an SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) Project. That can mean a traditional fair animal, or anything else related to agriculture. I personally have a chicken egg business and raise dairy goats to show at fair. I am the only person in my chapter not showing a market lamb, pig, or steer. I look to my sister's 4-h leader for any and all help wih my project. Every year, we are required to complete a record book that contains a record of expenses, hours, volunteer time, and profits. Upon the completion of the record book and other requirments, you are eligible for certain degrees. Freshmen earn their greenhand deg, and then there is chapter, state, and even alumni. The best part for me is all of the conventions. There are leadership and state conventions throughout the year. I have gone to greenhand conference, state conference (twice), MFE and ALA, and a few more. You can learn a LOT about leadership at these conventions and meet new people. Also, you have the opportunity to be on a team and go to field days. I have been on horse judging, opening and closing, livestock judging, and BIG teams. There are countless other teams available. Every Saturday during spring I was traveling to different colleges to compete in horse judging. It is a lot of memorization and time, but a ton of fun! 

I hope that all made sense! FFA is a great thing, and your daughter will learn a lot and have a lot of fun!!!


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

^^See I don't think it's fair that every kid HAS to do an SAE. Some people (like me) don't necessarily have the resources or time to do one. I have one goat and I can't show her because she has CL. So I can't do goat production. I mean I volunteer at an animal clinic and tried using that as my SAE last year but my dumb advisor never talked to me about it or gave me an paper work to fill out. And considering that I'm trying to graduate early with 5 AP classes I don't really have time to dilly dally around with that anyway. My mind is on one thing and one thing only, getting into vet school. Another thing that really made me mad about my chapter is that I have NEVER gotten the chance to go to any of the conventions, including National when it's been in Indy the past couple of years. Because my stupid advisor never told me when we were going, what I needed to bring, etc. I never even got my green hand even though I was in it for 3 years. 7,8, and 9 grade years. It's just nuts!!!! He picked favorites and it just....UGGHHH!!!! I just need to shut up before I start crying.


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## OakHollowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

caprine crazy said:


> ^^See I don't think it's fair that every kid HAS to do an SAE. Some people (like me) don't necessarily have the resources or time to do one. I have one goat and I can't show her because she has CL. So I can't do goat production. I mean I volunteer at an animal clinic and tried using that as my SAE last year but my dumb advisor never talked to me about it or gave me an paper work to fill out. And considering that I'm trying to graduate early with 5 AP classes I don't really have time to dilly dally around with that anyway. My mind is on one thing and one thing only, getting into vet school. Another thing that really made me mad about my chapter is that I have NEVER gotten the chance to go to any of the conventions, including National when it's been in Indy the past couple of years. Because my stupid advisor never told me when we were going, what I needed to bring, etc. I never even got my green hand even though I was in it for 3 years. 7,8, and 9 grade years. It's just nuts!!!! He picked favorites and it just....UGGHHH!!!! I just need to shut up before I start crying.


I'm sorry you have had a bad experience. My 3 advisors are all really nice and encourage everyone to join. An SAE project doesn't have to be a big deal. My teachers allow kids to use pulling weeds once a week as their project. They allow anything somehow related to agriculture. And "agriculture is everything", so that is a pretty big category.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks again everyone, greatly appreciate your input  If my daughter doesn't have more information to bring home tomorrow, then I am going to email her teacher, and ask how they do things in our county.


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