Forever Blue

When I was asked to write a blog for the Iowa FFA, I thought to myself, “What could I possibly write about?” My FFA experience was so rich, and it continues to give back to me, but how can I narrow it down? How could I write something that would make a difference for those reading it? Although I am sure that I don’t have the “one size fits all” fits all blog, here is what I have come up with after reflecting on this prompt.

Commit. What does it mean to you to commit to something? For me, it’s easy; find something you love doing, and commit to it. Personally, I hope that is FFA, but it can be anything. My brother committed to playing the tuba in 5th grade, and now he travels the world playing that big, clunky, instrument. My wife committed to becoming a personal trainer, and now trains people in our local community. You see, it doesn’t matter what it is you are committing to; just find that passion and commit to it. The more experiences I have in life, the more important I realize commitment is.

Engage. It is so important to tell your story. As people involved in the agricultural industry, we often get caught up trying to tell agricultures story, but from my perspective, the most powerful story is our own. If you are in a community where FFA isn’t supported, engage with your community. If you are in a community where FFA is supported, engage with your community. We spend so much time trying to engage about the bad, when in all reality, we need to be engaging about the good as well. Tell people about your story. Tell your community about the wins your FFA chapter has had. Engage with those different than you and understand their story as well.

Serve. Today, we often get caught up with titles. This person has this degree or has this job. That person got elected to that position or has “Secretary” written on their jacket. While those things are all important to those individuals and may be “cool”, in all reality, it is incredibly important to serve wherever you are at. Whether that is volunteering at your local food bank, serving as a State FFA Officer, or being the CEO of John Deere, servant leadership is vital to not only your success, but those around you. If you find a group of yours is struggling for some reason, first look at yourself. How can you serve that group better or differently?

Give. It has been quite a few years since I have zipped up my blue corduroy jacket, but I still find myself trying to come back to the organization. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t try to sneak into State Convention with my suspenders and tie on, but I find myself wanting to give back. For me, that has meant serving on the Iowa FFA Foundation Board of Directors, giving back to local FFA chapters, and training rock stars for FFA State Officer Interviews. This could mean something totally different to you, but here is my ask: give back to FFA. There is such a need on the local, state and national level for support. This can be monetarily, as a judge at sub-district convention, or as a chaperone to an event. If you are reading this as an FFA member, you are probably thinking, “Josh is meaning this for someone else”; but you are dead wrong. Find a way to give back to FFA as a member. Mentor a freshman in their first ag class. Present your prepared public speech to your local Rotary Club. When you aren’t a member anymore, remember the opportunities you had and give back so future FFA members can have that same opportunity.

I leave you with this: FFA is an organization that has allowed me to have so many opportunities. In fact, it is still giving back to me. Commit to something you love doing. Engage with those around you. Serve where you are when you are there. Give to FFA in whatever capacity you can. If we all do these few things, not only will we be successful as individuals, but FFA will continue to be the best student-lead organization in the world.

Forever Blue,

Josh Earl

2013-2014 State President

Advocate to Educate

When someone says or believes something that we disagree with, it can be easy for our emotions to get the best of us. We don’t understand why they would think something like that at all. I will admit that I am 100% guilty of this. In these situations, my competitive nature says, “you’re wrong. Let me tell you why I’m the one who’s right.” In agriculture, we see differences in beliefs all the time. We hear about it on TV, social media, even in people’s conversations at the grocery store. We see it in the non-GMO labels scattered all throughout the aisles as a marketing scheme. Of course this upsets us, but what approach do we take in confronting these misconceptions?

While I was in Spain earlier this year, we visited a beef cattle farm. At first sight, the facilities didn’t seem a whole lot different than what we might see here in the United States. Once we began our tour and stepped through the day to day operations of the farm, we started becoming much more aware of the differences in practices. Because Spain belongs to the European Union, the agricultural industry of the country faces several regulations and restrictions. During our tour we were able to learn about the regulations within the realm of beef cattle. The first one the owner and manager of the farm spoke with us about was the use of “stimulants.” He explained that the EU strictly prohibits the use of antibiotics and hormones throughout the duration of an animal’s life. When asked how the cattle are kept healthy, the farmer replied that they are able to vaccinate animals within the first four months of the individual animal’s arrival on the farm. After that, everything is completely natural. The beliefs behind this practice suggest that the said “stimulants” affect the quality of the meat. Aside from stimulants, bulls are also not castrated at any point in the production process. The farmers believe that this creates a stress-free environment. At the end of our visit, the farmer encouraged us to keep everything natural in the process of cattle production as it results in clean meat.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks later and I’m back in the United States as the Starbucks milk fiasco is in full force. I’ll admit, I was kind of upset about it too. I don’t normally go to Starbucks, but I was upset to hear about another business displaying miseducation of the agricultural industry which affected the beliefs of consumers. While some people were threatening to boycott Starbucks, instagram user @brandibuzzard had a different approach. She posted a video on instagram encouraging agriculturalists to do the exact opposite of boycotting. She said that the next time she goes to Starbucks, she’s going to ask for REAL milk to show that there is in fact a demand for it.

These two stories might not seem like it, but they actually have a lot in common. Two different parties are miseducated on an agricultural topic. Now in the first example, we kind of blew off the final remarks of the farmer and thought to ourselves, “yeah whatever we’re going to do what we want.” We didn’t think to stop and have a conversation with the man about why we use the practices that we do. In the second example, the simple answer was, “I’m never going to Starbucks again.” Again, we didn’t think about sitting down and having a conversation about it. In both cases we were frustrated and upset. As agriculturalists, we have a choice to make. When we hear these things that frustrate us, there’s two options. We can be mad and storm off, or we can respectfully provide education on the topic. Instead of saying, “I’m never going to Starbucks again,” we can actually go to Starbucks and politely tell them why it is that we want real milk in our hot chocolate or whatever it is that we might order. As advocates for the industry, we accomplish nothing by responding with an eye roll or a boycott. If we provide education, we open minds.

Advocate to Educate,

Hope Brecht

Southeast State Vice President

Iowa FFA Association

Perfectly Imperfect

Over the past couple of months, I’ve driven countless miles down unfamiliar roads as I’ve traveled across the state of Iowa. Everywhere I go is slightly different, but has a uniquely beautiful view. Whether it was watching the sunset as I drove by lake Red Rock, seeing the snow sparkle in the high noon sun while on a state highway, the reflection of countless taillights in the bigger cities, or watching the sunrise over the rolling hills on my way down to Mount Ayr, I’ve been able to see some pretty beautiful sights. This love for nature’s beauty is something I got naturally.

Even at 103 years old, my great-grandma Doratha loved to paint. She painted everything, including snowy winter wonderlands, rustic farmhouses, trees filled with colorful fall leaves, and of course, all of the little critters that she saw roaming around outside. Each of her paintings were beautifully crafted down to the smallest and simplest detail. My favorite painting of all time was one she did of a raccoon. The little raccoon had big, round eyes and a full belly. He laid next to an empty watermelon rind and a couple remaining shiny black seeds. I was amazed by the detail in the little raccoon’s big, beautiful eyes and his happy little face.

Despite my love for nature and its inner beauty, I was never able to paint like my great-grandma. While trying to teach my cousins and me to paint, she used to tell us to look at the details because everything we see is made perfectly imperfect. Everything has its flaws, and that’s what makes it perfect. Even the tallest, widest, and most beautiful tree has missing limbs and broken branches. These broken and missing pieces don’t make the tree any less beautiful, but instead, make it unique and perfect. Just like how our battle scars and imperfections make us beautiful to those around us. We are perfectly imperfect, just like we were meant to be. Love yourself and embrace your imperfections.

Find the Beauty in Everything, 

Mickayla McGill 

2019-2020 South Central State Vice President 

Against the Odds

    Staring at the grey walls of the Scheman Building on Iowa State's Campus is a favorite pass time for extemporaneous speakers during state convention. Rumour has it, some of the best speakers to come through the competition have all participated in the age-old tradition of counting the specs on the walls waiting for their turn to prep their speeches. 

*A little about the contest: Extemporaneous speaking or Extemp for short is a contest we as an FFA offer to students for them to hone in on their ability to think on their feet and handle a wide range of agriculture topics. Contestants are presented three ag-based topics, they select one and are given thirty minutes to prep a four to six-minute speech based on the topic. Like any speech, there needs to be a beginning, middle and end all with a personal flare and research to back-up claims made. Students are allowed to have up to five materials such as a textbook, magazine or a notebook with printed off articles to help provide facts and sources for their speech.*

    My senior year of high school I sat in Scheman staring at the walls when a gruff stout man came in and slammed my notebooks of materials in front of me.

    “There’s something wrong with your notebook,” said the stout man with Jolly Ranchers on his breath.

    “Okay, and that is?” I replied puzzled. Did I overly care about my notebook? No, but it was one of those nice things to have just in case I had a brain fart.

    “You don’t have any page numbers.” I coulda swore it was Blue Raspberry on his breath but it was hard to tell.

    “I need page numbers?”

    “Yes. Do you have another copy?”

    “No.” Maybe it was Grape. Eh, probably a mix of both.

    “We’re taking your notebook from you. You can’t use it because you don’t have page numbers.”

    “Okay.”

    “Like now. We’re taking it now. You’re not going to get to use it for the competition.”

    “Great. Go ahead.” He seemed floored by my response. He must have been expecting a sob story, maybe for me to barter with him? Whatever he was looking for I wasn’t giving it to him.

    He glared at me, grabbed my notebook, and placed three notecards in front of me. I thought I heard him mumble “Good Luck” but I doubt it.

    Snatching the “How will Technology change Agriculture in the Future?” card I set to work on my speech. I was excited to simply be competing at state. My advisor and I had had multiple lengthy discussions about me competiting in this contest. The principle of more or less doing a speech improv style in front of a group of people who are clearly more informed on the subjects terrified me. Being one of two who competed at sub-districts I hadn’t put much hope in me getting past districts, yet here I was.

    Thirty minutes up, I collected my things and set out to the competition room with the Courtesy Corps member. Outside the doors, I was prepped by a kind woman on how it would work once I got in there. She led me in and in the audience was my family and advisor with some other members in there just to watch. In my head, I was setting the Over/Under on how long until they figured out I was flying by the seat of my pants on this speech.

    The speech felt solid, I conveyed my message and the audience seemed engaged. I couldn’t really ask for more. After being berated by the judge’s questions for five minutes I stepped outside. My family seemed shocked about me losing my notebook and my advisor chuckled a “Told you you could do it” to himself. Oh well, it was over now.

    Cut to later that afternoon, I found out I had gotten a gold! Holy cow! Up on stage in the bright lights, they called my name as the winner! To say I was surprised was an understatement.

    Why do I tell you this story? As I’ve traveled the state, interacted with members from all over, and seen where they’re all coming from a theme stands out to me. We sometimes get so focused on making sure everything “goes right” that we don’t appreciate what we have right in front of us. Life doesn’t play fair and the situations we find ourselves in can sometimes be overwhelming. But it’s what we do in those moments that define our character. I could have easily scratched myself from the competition then and there and walked away because things didn’t go according to plan. Heck, I could have told my advisor I wasn’t competiting that year and not even listened to him. But then I would have missed the ride, the adventure of competing with some of the best speakers in the Iowa FFA with only what I had learned in ag class and time spent in the barn to go off of. Yeah sometimes its uncomfortable and we don’t always win, but as Babe Ruth once said, “It’s hard to beat someone who never gives up.”

Go Get Em,

Chandler Jahner

State President

Me and the State Champion Plaque. Can you see the disbelief on my face?

Try a New Leadership Development Event!

Coming back to school after winter break is always difficult. Many high schools jump right back in at the end of the semester, making the weeks after break stressful and filled with getting caught up on work you swore you were going to do over break but didn’t and studying for looming final exams. 

During my time in high school, I also spent hours and hours in the weeks following winter break in the ag room, preparing for whichever Leadership Development Event (LDE) I was participating in that year. Whether it was reciting the creed over and over my freshman year to get my hand motions just right or researching hot topics in agriculture to prepare for extemporaneous speaking, I have some amazing memories of late nights and early mornings spent in my high school ag room preparing for contests.

Participating in LDEs was one of the most valuable, memorable and enjoyable parts of my FFA career. They made me more confident in my ability as a speaker and gave me experience sharing the story of agriculture. Sub-district contests are rapidly approaching for most of the chapters in the state, but it’s not too late to take advantage of some of the great opportunities these contests provide. In Iowa, there are nine LDEs that begin at the sub-district level for you to choose from. I have included descriptions of some of my favorites below.

Creed Speaking - “I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds…” This LDE is for members in seventh through ninth grade. Participants are judged on their ability to present all five paragraphs of the FFA Creed from memory and then answer three questions related to it. I participated in this LDE my freshman year of high school.

Extemporaneous Speaking - In this LDE, participants showcase their agricultural knowledge and ability to think on their feet by giving a speech and answering questions with limited prep time. To compete, members draw three agricultural topics and choose one to craft a speech on. They then have 30 minutes to prepare a four to six minute speech on the topic and are able to use 100 pages of resources. After their speech, participants answer five minutes worth of questions on the topic they just presented. I participated in this LDE my junior year of high school.

Prepared Public Speaking - Participants in this LDE write and deliver a six to eight-minute speech about a current agriculture-related topic. Members are allowed to choose and research their own topic and then put together a creative, informative speech. The speech is presented to a panel of judges, who score the student based on the speech’s content, composition and delivery. I participated in this LDE my senior year of high school.

Conduct of Meetings - The purpose of this LDE is to introduce members to parliamentary procedure as they learn how to conduct efficient meetings and build their communication skills. A team of seven students from one chapter demonstrate correct use of FFA opening and closing ceremonies. Members assume various officer duties (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, reporter, sentinel and advisor) during the presentation that is evaluated by a team of judges. They are also asked to answer related questions as a team.

These LDEs also start at the sub-district level and descriptions of them can be found at these two links: http://www.iowaffa.com/leadershipcdematerials.aspx and https://www.ffa.org/participate/cde-lde/. (LDE descriptions above were created with the help of these resources).

Job Interview
Parliamentary Procedure
Ag Broadcasting
Ag Sales
Program of Activities

Take a step outside your comfort zone this year and try a new LDE! No matter the outcome, you will make memories and learn skills that will help you grow inside and outside of the classroom.


In Blue and Gold,

2019-2020 State Reporter

Grace Long

Giving the creed at my chapter's banquet during my freshman year.

Four generations of creed speakers from the Ballard FFA Chapter.

The Best Time of The Year

We are closing in on the most wonderful time of the year. Yes I know Christmas has passed, I’m talking about calving season! Calving season is the most strenuous yet rewarding time of year for most cattle producers. Getting up at the crack of dawn everyday, going from feeding to driving through cows, and going home late at night can start to wear down on producers. But seeing the calves grow from birth to yearling to sale time is the most rewarding thing in my opinion. Watching my calves run around in the middle of March in the snow covered fields and seeing them transform in feeder cattle the next year and watching their growth makes me feel like I did something important. Reasons like that are why I want to stay on the farm and continue to raise cattle.


But there is the stress that comes with cattle. Everyone knows that no two years are the same. Going from the winter of 2008 to 2019 there has been every type of condition known to man. These types of conditions can wear people down. The amount of sleepless nights followed by large amounts of work during the day can make producers extremely worn down. If you have cattle try to have someone cover your chores every once in awhile and catch up on your sleep. I myself have and will continue to spend the winter with little sleep and can tell you firsthand how hard it is to do this everyday. Take time to rest. The work will always be there, but you might not.


To all cattle producers in Iowa and across the U.S. I wish you a safe and successful calving season, and let’s pray for no snow.

To the Cowboy In All Of Us,

Tyler Comes

2019-20 SW State Vice President

A Fresh Start to 2020!

As the final days of 2019 wrapped up I began to reflect on what a great year it has been. We celebrated another inspiring year of FFA events, presented Paul Hassmen with his FFA jacket (Click Here to read that story), and celebrated 50 years of women in FFA (Click Here for media surrounding that event). We have been blessed by many sponsors, alumni, and our advisors. I am very thankful for all who provide us the experience to write our own story in the blue jacket, however, this year is over and we have a new path to walk down.

As we step into the new year and decade we have the opportunity for a fresh start. The new year looks different for all of us, for some, it is New Year’s Resolutions, for others it is a new set of classes at school, and for others, it’s a chance to set goals for the new decade. As we make our way back to school these next few days what are we going to change? Without change, we won’t see any progress in our goals and ambitions. What will the new year look like for you? I challenge you to answer these following questions!

This year I will focus on…
This year I will serve others by...
This year I want to get better at…

As I take the time to answer these questions, I can’t help but get excited for the new year! We have so much time to make new friends, discover new places, and make a difference. For me, the new year is always a time to set goals and start working! This year I am excited to start a new set of classes at Iowa State University, travel to new FFA chapters, and meet more FFA members. These new experiences will shape the start of my new decade. As Jonathan Estrin once said, “The way we spend our time defines who we are.” We are given 365 days to make a difference in the world. What’s stopping you?

Aspire to Inspire,

Shelby Westhoff

Northeast State Vice President