By EMMA HOPKINS

Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Many FFA members aspire to climb to the top of their organization, but only six passionate and knowledgeable students had the chance to lead the 670,000 membership this past year.

With the National FFA Convention last week, a busy yet rewarding year ended for the 2017-18 officer team. In their travels throughout the country at state FFA conventions and other agricultural events, the team was able to get a read on the attitudes and determinations of young people in agriculture in the face of unique and ever-present challenges facing the industry.

Bryce Cluff, outgoing Western region vice president from Arizona, sees opportunity in youth who are ready to take on ag’s challenges. “I think the biggest take-away from this year was excitement to be the change,” he said. “We understand that ag has had its hardships and will continue to have its hardships – it is the nature of who we are.

“We will never be understood 100 percent, but what we can do is the very best job possible. The excitement we see in our students makes me excited, so as we are able to pass the baton on to the next team, I think we’re going to see a really cool change in the atmosphere of the ag industry in the next few years.”

Cluff’s teammate Breana Holbert, who was the 2017-18 president, agrees wholeheartedly. She said the young generation is sometimes underestimated, and stigmas attached to it such as being lazy or disloyal are not the case among members with whom she has spent the past year interacting.

“I think that students are more motivated now than ever,” Holbert said. “A lot of folks from older generations, they may not have taken the time to realize the positives of the Millennial (and younger) generation.

“For me, sitting with students and talking with them one-on-one, they’re optimistic about change and experiences and bringing value to ag. This year, no matter where I was, students were ready to change some things.”

Ian Bennett of Georgia, who has served as southern region VP, said ag operates in a cycle, like many other industries, and though it has been on a down cycle recently, he sees opportunities for the next generation.

“When you think of the things that we need to change in the future, a lot of those new ideas and tech are going to come from the younger generation,” he said. “There’s just a lot of things that we’ve grown up with and understand.

“Pretty much any aspect of ag, any stop along the food value chain you want to look at, there’s new things coming, there’s good change coming – and now is a good time to be getting started in ag.”

Diversity, and owning who one is as a person, seemed to be a resonating message the officers heard and projected throughout the past year. The national convention theme of “Just One” similarly focused on individuality and seizing opportunities that may be available to members “just once” in their lives.

Piper Merritt, outgoing central region VP from Oklahoma, explained how the conference theme was intended to affect members. “We want to allow members to find their ‘just one’ moment,” she said. “All of our FFA careers began with just one moment of us applying ourselves, deciding FFA was something we wanted to run with and then taking that title full on.

“For me, just one moment that changed my life was riding in the ag truck to a conference with my teacher as he told me that he believed in me. Another ‘just one’ moment was me being able to come to my first-ever national convention. What will just one conversation be that changes your life? What’s just one opportunity you can take to further yourself?”

Erica Baier of Iowa, secretary for the past year, reflected that she and her teammates are examples of individuality meshing to create a well-rounded bond. “I think one thing that we’ve just really embraced this year is being unapologetically yourself,” she said.

“Ian actually loves the agriscience fair, so he got to nerd out a little bit with that and connected with people that way, and for me, I grew up in a production agriculture setting, so I got to connect with people through that, and Bri (Holbert), she actually raised chickens in her bedroom for a project because she’s from urban California.

“Owning who you are and where you come from, I think, is a message we wanted to give people.”

Holbert, who said her viewpoint of the United States changed through visiting members nationwide, kicked off the convention. “I’m excited to see so many of our members in Banker’s Life Fieldhouse from so many different places and walks of life,” she said.

“If I could, I would just give them all a figurative hug – all 67,000 (the number in attendance) – because it’s so cool, just the perspective that they’ve brought to me and my teammates.”

Bennett said just as he and the five other outgoing national officers have their own experiences of ag and what it means to them, the members he was able to visit with over the past year at nine different FFA state conventions held great diversity.

“Just the perspective, ideas and knowledge all of our teammates bring to the table – it’s been incredible, some of the things we’ve gotten to work on, and it’s really humbling and great to be part of this team,” he said. “When I think of state conventions, I think of a lot of things we do in Georgia, but we went to Iowa and Illinois and Hawaii and all these other places, it was so cool to see the traditions and ideas that people carry out through their own state conventions.

“It’s been very eye-opening, and it’s grown my perspective a lot, just what I’ve seen and the things I’ve gotten to be part of.”

Referencing the Midwest audiences she was able to experience, Holbert said visiting environments more conservative than where she was raised in California has been a positive experience.

“I just want to thank them,” she concluded. “I talk a lot about perspective, and being able to be in those rural communities and going out onto those Midwestern farms, and talking to farmers about what they care about made me just appreciate ag so much more, knowing what farmers have been able to do for the country.

“So, from an urban girl, to a rural person – just thank you.”