Eight Minnesota FFA Members participated in the pre-convention delegate committee process, with a total of 475 Delegates at the Convention; current State Officers: Luke McCrea, Mattea Quigley, Anna Sievert, Edward Winters, Ella Aarsvold, Aidyn Brutger and additional delegates selected through an application process: Olivia Vorpagel of the Southland FFA Chapter and Charlie Nelson of the Glencoe Silver Lake FFA Chapter.
The delegates deliberated the issues and presented their resolutions for the National FFA Organization to consider their implementation in the following committees: Enhancing CDE/LDE Experiences and Career Pipeline, Leadership Development and Demographics, Student and Stakeholder Input in Operational Decisions, Strengthening Ag Literacy and Production Agriculture, Increasing Engagement for Spanish-Speaking Members, and Heritage and Future Focus Committee (Chair – Luke McCrea).
2026-2027 National FFA Secretary – Cameron Addington
Cameron Addington of the CANNON FALLS FFA represented Minnesota as a National Officer candidate and was selected as the National FFA Secretary.
Minnesota FFA Members are conferred their American FFA Degree
With 1,053,847 members and chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the National FFA Organization is the largest student-led organization. The group’s mission statement in the United States is to “make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.”
The National FFA honors members through various levels of degrees, with the American level being the highest, demonstrating the effort FFA members apply toward their supervised agricultural experience and the outstanding leadership abilities and community involvement they exhibited through their FFA career. Less than one percent of FFA members earn the American degree. See the full list at: https://participation.ffa.org/
The Minnesota FFA Association is proud of the 104 FFA members earning the highest degree at the 99th National FFA Convention and Expo. Having interviewed each student for this honor, we know the time and dedication each student had in meeting the educational, financial, leadership, and service-learning requirements for this degree. Minnesota’s 104 recipients were recognized for their achievement at the National FFA Convention on October 24, 2026, in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Honorary American Degrees
The Honorary American Degree recipients for 2026 included: Jacqueline Bailey (Inver Grove Heights), Jennifer Boersma (Tyler), Stephen Funk (Menahga), Abbie Savage (Ulen), Roger Schaefer (Frazee), Mike Schutz (St. Paul).
2026 National Chapter Awards Program
The National Chapter Award program recognizes FFA chapters that successfully completed an annual Program of Activities (POA), which includes a series of activities designed to encourage its members to grow as individuals, to work as part of a team and to serve others.
Our Minnesota FFA Chapters that earned the highest ranking of 3 Stars included: Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, Chatfield, Glencoe-Silver Lake, Goodhue, Granada-Huntley-East Chain, Hendricks, Lake City, Rocori, Sibley East, Sleepy Eye, St. Paul – Highland Park, and Tracy. Minnesota’s 2 Star Chapters included: Eden Valley-Watkins, Forest Lake, Heron Lake-Okabena, Park Rapids, Perham, Plainview Elgin Millville, Princeton, Randolph, Rockford, Sauk Rapids-Rice, and Zumbrota Mazeppa.
2026 Agricultural Proficiency Awards Program
2026 National Agricultural Proficiency Awards were announced at the National FFA Convention, October 21 through October 24 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Minnesota had top six finalists in six areas.
All national finalists were interviewed by a delegation of judges prior to the announcement of the winners. The Minnesota finalists were: Dairy Production Placement – Emily Brogan, St. Charles FFA; Diversified Crop Production Entrepreneurship – Kody Tollefsrud, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg FFA; Diversified Horticulture Entrepreneurship/Placement – Kimberly Ohm, Park Rapids; Landscape Installation Entrepreneurship/Placement – Jameson Buboltz, Glencoe-Silver Lake; Swine Production Placement – Ava Wisch, Glencoe-Silver Lake; and Veterinary Science Entrepreneurship/Placement – Jilian Schoenfeld, Russell Tyler Ruthton. Jilian Schoenfeld was named the National FFA Winner in Veterinary Science.
2026 Career Development Participants
Minnesota FFA Excels in National Career and Leadership Development Events – The Winners were announced during the 99th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis. The Minnesota results are as follows.
The Agricultural Communications team from the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted FFA chapter earned a Bronze ranking.
The Agricultural Issues Forum team from the Rocori FFA chapter earned a Bronze ranking.
The Agricultural Technology & Mechanical Systems team from the Holdingford FFA chapter earned a Silver ranking.
The Agricultural Sales team from the Maple River FFA earned a Silver ranking.
The Agronomy team from the Maple River FFA chapter earned a Gold ranking.
The Conduct of Chapter Meetings team from the Lewiston-Altura FFA chapter earned a Gold ranking and was 4th place in the nation.
Creed Speaking competitor Brayden VanDyke of the Russell Tyler Ruthton FFA Chapter earned a Bronze ranking.
The Dairy Cattle Evaluation team from the Fillmore Central FFA earned 6th place Gold, with Sawyer Johnson placing 10th individually.
Employment Skills competitor Lucia Martinez Paredes of the Sleepy Eye FFA earned a Bronze ranking.
The Environmental and Natural Resources team from Maple River FFA earned a Bronze ranking.
Extemporaneous Public Speaking competitor Isaac Worm of the Tri-City United FFA earned a Bronze ranking.
The Farm & Agribusiness Management team from the Russell Tyler Ruthton FFA chapter was 1st place in the nation and a Gold ranking. Riley Van Eck was the 1st place individual!
The Floriculture team from the Fillmore Central FFA earned 4th place and a Gold ranking. Charity Kingsley was 2nd High Individual, and Grace Kingsley was 6th High Individual.
The Food Science & Technology team from the Menahga FFA earned a Silver ranking.
The Forestry team from the Menahga FFA earned a Silver team ranking.
The Horse Evaluation team from the Fillmore Central FFA earned Gold ranking.
The Livestock Evaluation team from Tracy Area FFA earned a Silver ranking.
The Marketing Plan team from the Windom FFA Chapter earned Silver.
The Meats Evaluation & Technology team from the Lakeview FFA earned Silver.
The Milk Quality and Products team from the Sleepy Eye FFA chapter earned 7th place Gold.
The Nursery/Landscape team from the Maple River FFA chapter earned a Silver team ranking.
The Parliamentary Procedure team from the Rocori FFA chapter received a Silver rating.
The Poultry team from the Sleepy Eye FFA chapter earned a Gold ranking.
Prepared Public Speaking competitor Chris Schafer of Grand Rapids earned a Gold ranking.
The Veterinary Science team from the Russell Tyler Ruthton FFA chapter earned the Silver ranking.
Rylan Skorczewski of the Henricks FFA Chapter participated in the Agricultural Education CDE Invitational and received a Silver ranking.
Agri Science Fair Competition
The National FFA AgriScience Fair is a competition for FFA members who are interested in the science and technology of agriculture. To qualify for the national AgriScience Fair, students were required to conduct a scientific research project pertaining to the agriculture and food science industries and present their findings to a panel of judges and submit their full written report and application to the National FFA Organization postmarked by July 15. The state-winning Minnesota FFA members were interviewed by a panel of judges and selected as National AgriScience Fair Finalists. Their results for nationals include the following.
In the area of Environmental Services/Natural Resource Systems: Division 1, Kye Antonson from the Academy For Sciences & Agriculture FFA received 3rd place in the nation.
In the area of Environmental Services/Natural Resource Systems: Division 5 Alexandria Confer from the Sleepy Eye FFA Chapter received 9th place.
In the area of Food Products and Processing Systems: Division 1, Ella Capistran from the Crookston FFA received 7th place.
Students performed at National FFA Convention
This year, two Minnesota FFA members participated in the National FFA Band and Chorus: Anya Dahlgren, BOLD FFA (National Band) and Mady Schlaak, NRHEG FFA (National Chorus).
Minnesota FFA Foundation
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