FFA convention held in person for first time since 2019

For three days this week, the Minnesota FFA, previously known as Future Farmers of America, returned to an in-person convention in the Twin Cities for the first since 2019.

Thousands of high school students fanned the Minnesota State Fairgrounds and the U of M's Mariucci Arena to hear speeches about ag Twitter, chat with future employers and participate in competitions — from sour-milk tasting to plant judging.

Drew Pinske, who lives on a farm an hour northeast of Fargo, drove nearly five hours with classmates and a teacher to decipher fish and wildlife via PowerPoint.

"Normally, you have all the taxidermied animals in there," Pinske said, noting lingering COVID-19 restrictions. Still, the sophomore at Norman County East School in Twin Valley relished meeting in person with the other 3,500 students. His event also involved a quiz on current diseases threatening animals.

"They talked about avian flu, West Nile, chronic wasting," said Pinske, who wore his button commemorating a third-place finish at regionals. "All that stuff."

Justin Buysse, a first-year ag teacher at Russell Tyler Ruthton Public School, stood outside the Lee & Rose Warner Coliseum on a chilly morning in St. Paul, directing chaperones via cellphone to the bus parked "between the sheep & horse barn."

"Some kids still think food comes from a grocery store," Buysse said. He wants his students to know options exist beyond a four-year degree. "I have buddies who went to a two-year school driving a brand new pickup, buying a house, buying a boat."

"To be involved in ag doesn't mean you have to be a seed dealer," McCulloh said.

There's that, too, though. Down the corridor, Pioneer Seeds offered free T-shirts for anyone posting selfies.

Minnesota boasts the fourth-largest ag exports state in the nation. And the industry is changing. In 2022, FFA organizers touted a new chapter in Minneapolis. Four St. Paul schools teach ag classes. But the program retains rural roots.

Bus loads of kids from Fosston, Jackson County Central and Menagha schools roamed the U of M's Dinkytown neighborhood, clogging Starbucks in their distinguishable blue coats emblazoned with yellow lettering.

For Natalie Beckendorf, a senior at Renville County West, the convention's return brought an "overwhelming joy" but also rigors of competition. She admitted she took "harsh" criticism in a public speaking event for using a term the judges didn't like.