Jeff Hill Joins Like - Minded Agrarians in FFA

Three types of chapters may be established for Future Farmers of America members like Jeff Hill at the secondary level: middle, junior and senior.  Districts, sub districts, sections, regions and federations may also exist.  FFA now may begin in middle schools, with membership commencing as early as age 12.  Each FFA chapter is part of the state association and the national association, including collegiate chapters.

Jeff Hill competed in agriculturally grounded events at annual Future Farmers of America conventions, where award recognitions, leader workshops, competitions, and delegate debates are held.   Offices in each chapter are represented by images symbolic of agricultural pursuits, such as the rising sun, the plow, the ear of corn, the United States flag, and the owl. The official motto of the FFA: Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve, aligns with the mission of the organization: to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.

Career Development Events, CDEs, are part of agricultural education instruction consisting of contests members compete in at the state, district and national level.  Over 24 different competition types are available at the national level, including Ag business, Ag communications, Ag issues, Ag mechanics, Ag sales, Agronomy (the specialized area which Jeff Hill would later make his life’s work), Creed speaking, Dairy Cattle Evaluation, Dairy Cattle Handlers, Dairy Foods, Environmental & Natural Resources, Public Speaking, Floriculture, Food Science & Technology, Forestry, Horse Evaluation, Job Interview, Land Judging, Livestock Evaluation, Marketing, Meats, Nursery, Parliamentary Procedure, Poultry Evaluation,  Rangeland Judging, Veterinarian Science, and Quiz Bowl.  A wide variety of other Career Development Events are available on the state level.

Jeff Hill became a member of National FFA the way all members enter: through participation in a Supervised Agricultural Experience project.  These projects test the members’  hands-on ability by using concepts and principles brought from the classroom. The project may be exploratory, research and experimentation, entrepreneurship, or placement in design and orientation.

As Jeff Hill worked toward his higher education, first at Reedley College and later at Fresno State University, his need for the companionship and corroboration of those also dedicated to agriculture sciences and study continued.  His friends and mentors in Future Farmers of America had empowered Jeff Hill with both knowledge and insight into his own love of agrarian pursuits.   His post-secondary association with the professional agriculture fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho added immeasurably to his contacts across the United States in the agriculture education community.

Alpha Gamma Rho traces its beginnings to the Morrill Act of 1862, passed into law by President Abraham Lincoln.  The Morrill Act provided land and financial incentives for the creation of at least one higher education institution in each state dedicated to the study of the agricultural and mechanical sciences.