HILLSBORO, Ohio – Those residing in and around Highland County in Ohio are not surprised that Carter Boyd, a senior at Hillsboro High School and representative of the Hillsboro Great Oaks FFA chapter, was elected Ohio state FFA president. After all, this third-generation FFA member’s grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins have all been active FFA participants. His aunt, the former Abby Yochum, even served as state vice president in 2003-2004.

“I can remember, going way back to our family Christmases and stuff as a kid, we’d always talk about their stories and goals and the things they did in FFA,” Boyd said. “Hearing about that and their different achievements was really cool, and it’s been even cooler in the past three years to kind of experience some of the similar things they did, but also kind of make my own path into that as well.”

Boyd, the son of Clinton and Marcy Boyd, will be a senior at Hillsboro High School next fall. Boyd is the first Hillsboro High representative to serve in state office since Joe Helterbrand (2020-2021), although Highland County has been well represented at the state level in recent years. He is an active member of the Barnyard Bunch 4-H Club, shows cattle and serves as Junior Fair Board president. He’s also a member of the National Honor Society.

“It’s pretty exciting having another state officer as it’s been a while since we’ve had one,” Hillsboro FFA adviser Brian Cummings said. “Carter’s put some effort in to get to this point. It was quite an honor and exciting to see that happen at state convention. He’s been a very active member of our chapter. He’s involved in a lot of our activities, community service and CDEs. He continues to develop his leadership qualities and mentors younger members.”

During his tenure with the Hillsboro FFA, Boyd has participated in a variety of events and contests, such as livestock judging, ag sales, ag biotechnology, job interview, public speaking, parliamentary procedure, soil judging and envirothon. He said a favorite memory was competing in the state public speaking CDE contest with three other Hillsboro FFA members, as he and two teammates advanced to the national contest in Massachusetts this September.

“A lot of times elected presidents are going into college, but Carter got the privilege of being elected going into his senior year,” Cummings said. “It will be a challenge to balance, but I know Carter will continue to do a lot of things with us but will do also a lot of stuff with the state officer team. Trying to balance those things will be somewhat of a challenge, but I’m sure he’ll do fine.”

Boyd will travel around the state representing Ohio FFA this upcoming school year, including doing chapter visits and other public speaking events.

“I’m also really excited to just go to the different chapter visits and go give speeches for banquets and things because I just love to go up to people and talk and hear their stories and hear the things they’ve done. That’s kind of inspirational for me, so being able to have the opportunity to talk to so many kids who are so diverse and have different goals is something I’m really looking forward to.

“The team I’m on now is really fun, too. We’re a very strong group of kids that are all very involved in FFA, and great leaders, so there’s a lot of ideas coming in. It’s kind of fun to take everyone’s ideas and shape (them) into something new that we want to do. We’ve had a lot of different events we’ve started this year or taken further.”

As an example, last fall Boyd and his team hosted their Highland County Hoedown, a dance whereby they invited all the Highland County FFA chapters. The money and proceeds from the event went to a member of his chapter whose stepfather was battling cancer.

What Boyd will do after his high school and FFA career is over is still undecided, but he said he hopes to go to college somewhere in Ohio for a degree in the business field. His plan is to return to Hillsboro, where he wants to help with his family businesses, The Porch and A-1 Tree Care, and continue to give back to the community he loves.

Along with Carter Boyd, this year’s officers include Vice President Henry Hoisington (Bloom-Carroll FFA), Secretary Abbey Garland (Talawanda-Butler Tech FFA), Treasurer Taylor Johnson (Evergreen FFA), Reporter Austin Manning (Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington FFA), Sentinel Malainy Boes (Upper Sandusky FFA), and five state vice president at large: Paris Anderson (Big Walnut-DACC FFA), Audrey Boeshart (Utica FFA), Ryace Boyer (Warren FFA), Isabella Nardecchia (Wayne County Career Center), and Melinda Wesley (Utica FFA).