LAFAYETTE, Ind. – While FFA is deeply rooted in farming and agribusiness, its influence extends far beyond the barn. Over the years, FFA has shaped the lives of countless young people, helping them develop skills in public speaking, teamwork and perseverance.

The National FFA Organization currently has more than 1 million members representing more than 9,235 chapters. Millions more are alumni of the program that includes some recognizable names. Some of the biggest names in music, sports and politics once wore the FFA emblem on the blue and gold jacket.

It is widely known that America’s 39th president, Jimmy Carter, came from a peanut-farming family in Georgia. Those roots date all the way back to Carter’s youth, when he was an FFA member in Plains, Ga.

Before she sold more than 50 million albums and won 10 Grammy Awards, Taylor Swift was a member of the Hendersonville FFA Chapter in Tennessee. Swift, who has performed at FFA conventions, was raised on a Christmas tree farm in Wyomissing, Pa.

Country artist Tim McGraw is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time. McGraw was a member of FFA in Start, La. And Johnny Cash, known as “The Man in Black,” was raised on a farm in Dyess, Ark. Cash was president of the Dyess FFA Chapter his senior year in high school. Willie Nelson grew up in rural Texas and was an FFA member.

Football and baseball great Bo Jackson, who won the Heisman Trophy in 1985 and played baseball for the Kansas City Royals, was part of the FFA chapter in McAdory, Ala. Jim Davis, creator of Garfield comic strip, was a former president of the Fairmount, Ind., FFA chapter.

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Martin was an FFA member in Tennessee. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen grew up on his family’s cotton farm in the heart of California. He was an FFA member at Firebaugh High School. Allen oftentimes speaks about the work ethic he learned on the farm as well as lessons learned in FFA.

The current U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, was actively involved in 4-H and FFA, and served as a state FFA officer for Texas.

Closer to home, there are countless prominent individuals who participated in FFA, many of those residing in the Farm World readership area.

Jay Akridge is provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Purdue University. Akridge said he owes much of his success to FFA, crediting adviser Ray Fowler for leading my example and being a great mentor.

“FFA helped me develop my communication skills,” Akridge said. “I have joked many times in my professional career that FFA helped me learn to give a five-minute speech. In FFA, five minutes was the time limit. In my career five minutes is all an audience wants to hear. Maybe most importantly, FFA taught me much about the relationship between preparation and success.”

Akridge grew up on a small farm, raising Polled Hereford cattle for sale as breeding stock. His family also owns a farm supply store in Fredonia, Ky. It was started by his grandfather in 1933. His brother runs the farm supply and hardware business today.

Akridge attended Lyon County High School in Eddyville, Ky., where he was a member of the Lyon County FFA Chapter. He served as a reporter and vice president of his chapter and was the Pennyrile Region vice president.

Akridge wasn’t alone on his road to success thanks to FFA. Other members of the Lyon County Chapter included Dr. Dwight Armstrong, who served as CEO of the National FFA Organization, and his brother, Dr. Jeff Armstrong, who currently serves as president of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. Jeff was also head of the Purdue Department of Animal Sciences before his current position.

When asked about his fondest memories of FFA, Akridge said “there were too many.”

“Our chapter banquets were always a big affair and our state convention was quite an experience for a guy from a town of 400. I was on the meat judging team that won the Kentucky state competition and that was an exciting moment. One of my fondest memories was our parliamentary procedure practice sessions, where we would practice once or twice a week, and as the evening wore on, we would end up with silly ‘motions’ that had us laughing too hard to continue practice. Then, we headed to the gym to play basketball. Those were good times.”

Natasha Cox is senior vice president of agricultural lending and regional vice president at Farm Credit Mid-America in Lafayette, Ind. She currently serves on the Indiana Corn Marketing Council board of directors.

Cox was raised on a tobacco farm in Switzerland County in Indiana. After 4-H, she began her FFA journey in Vevay, Ind., with the Switzerland County FFA Chapter. There she was a chapter secretary, chapter president and district president.

“Through FFA I learned a great work ethic and I credit my adviser Greg Curlin. “Thanks to Mr. Curlin, FFA helped make me a resilient person. I also owe to a lot of people who put their chips on me, on an average person in an average family from southern Indiana. I’ve been blessed and FFA has laid that path.”

Cox received her Bachelor of Science degree from Purdue University in agricultural economics. “I attended Purdue thinking I’d be an agriculture educator someday,” she said.

She has earned many awards since her graduation, including the distinguished APEX award from the department of agricultural economics and the Purdue Extension Women in Ag Award.

“I was in FFA in junior high and high school, my brother was in FFA, as were my parents,” Cox said.

Natasha and her husband, Brent, reside in Benton County, where they farm corn and soybeans, while raising their three children, Brody, Alex and Lydia.

There are countless prominent FFA members from other states in the Farm World readership area, including Flavius Barker and Ned McWherter of Tennessee. Barker was president of the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation (1995-2005) and WcWherter served as Tennessee governor (1987-1995).

David Hillinrake, former president of Syngenta Seeds and now global head of strategy, was in FFA in Seaton, Ill. Another former FFA member from Illinois is Allen Lash, founder and president of AgriSolutions. Lash’s chapter was in Finley, Ill. M. Peter McPherson, former chairman of Dow Jones & Co., participated in FFA in Lowell, Mich.