FFA - how does it work?

Hey there!

County to county differs, along with school to school; however, there are usually monthly meets at the high school itself, where Ag teachers & volunteers will host. Actually, my first year I ever showed, we had a potluck meeting & it was a whole bunch of fun; after that particular meeting, we went outside and all of us older kids held games for the junior ffa kids.

Just like 4h, in FFA you can show rabbits, chickens, cattle, goats, sheep, and so on; I've stuck with goats (they're the best).

The first show should be a county show, somewhere around Jan-March, depending on your location; mine is the last day of Feb & the first of March. This show will be full with FFA students from all over your county.

There will then be other shows to attend, along with extra shows you can sign up for for practice. At the end, if you place, there with be an auction, where your daughter can make a bit of money.

Of course, the better you are at choosing a goat, raising a goat, training, showing, and grooming, the more likely you are to place & sell. If your daughter does her research, tries her best, and has fun, she'll probably be successful at the auction.

Your daughter will have a lot of fun! Good luck to you both! I'm sorry if any of this info is incorrect because of your location. Remember to read show rules before entering & showing.

Thanks Everyone. I now have the FFA teacher's email so I can email her and find out about meetings, etc.
I wasn't sure if it worked similar to 4-H. The kids 4-H livestock club meets 2x a month.

I don't particularly care for the scheduling in the schools. Yep she only has the FFA class for the first 8-10 weeks of school, then the second 'trimester' she'll go into another Science class.
IMO it should be 1/2 year at least, then second 1/2, switch.

So far she seems to really enjoy the class and classmates. She was very very excited about the field trip today, so I hope she's having a great time I meant to send an old camera with her, but forgot to pick up batteries.

The market goats should be arriving so she might get to see them. I know the market goat showmanship classes are this evening, then market goat classes tomorrow. Which is the kids goal for next year.

I really need to sit down and read more about the FFA, I really want her to do well, and praying she might find something she can be happy to make a career out of. She just hasn't had any interests at all other than taking care of her goats & showing them.

This is my third year in FFA, and I am a Reporter this year. In our club, we do not have to pay any fees to be included in the chapter. My school offers ag leadership, animal science, ag bio, intro to ag, welding, equine science, and more. If you are in one of these classes, you are technically in FFA. Every kid is supposed to have an SAE (Supervised Agricultural Experience) Project. That can mean a traditional fair animal, or anything else related to agriculture. I personally have a chicken egg business and raise dairy goats to show at fair. I am the only person in my chapter not showing a market lamb, pig, or steer. I look to my sister's 4-h leader for any and all help wih my project. Every year, we are required to complete a record book that contains a record of expenses, hours, volunteer time, and profits. Upon the completion of the record book and other requirments, you are eligible for certain degrees. Freshmen earn their greenhand deg, and then there is chapter, state, and even alumni. The best part for me is all of the conventions. There are leadership and state conventions throughout the year. I have gone to greenhand conference, state conference (twice), MFE and ALA, and a few more. You can learn a LOT about leadership at these conventions and meet new people. Also, you have the opportunity to be on a team and go to field days. I have been on horse judging, opening and closing, livestock judging, and BIG teams. There are countless other teams available. Every Saturday during spring I was traveling to different colleges to compete in horse judging. It is a lot of memorization and time, but a ton of fun!

I hope that all made sense! FFA is a great thing, and your daughter will learn a lot and have a lot of fun!!!

^^See I don't think it's fair that every kid HAS to do an SAE. Some people (like me) don't necessarily have the resources or time to do one. I have one goat and I can't show her because she has CL. So I can't do goat production. I mean I volunteer at an animal clinic and tried using that as my SAE last year but my dumb advisor never talked to me about it or gave me an paper work to fill out. And considering that I'm trying to graduate early with 5 AP classes I don't really have time to dilly dally around with that anyway. My mind is on one thing and one thing only, getting into vet school. Another thing that really made me mad about my chapter is that I have NEVER gotten the chance to go to any of the conventions, including National when it's been in Indy the past couple of years. Because my stupid advisor never told me when we were going, what I needed to bring, etc. I never even got my green hand even though I was in it for 3 years. 7,8, and 9 grade years. It's just nuts!!!! He picked favorites and it just....UGGHHH!!!! I just need to shut up before I start crying.