FFA Forestry Contests, Do any of you participate?

[caveman]

The FFA, previously known as Future Farmers of America, has forestry contests.  In Florida, the Division of Forestry sets up the contests for the students.  The tests consist of dendrology, map interpretation, compass and pacing, tool i.d., forest disorders (bugs, diseases, invasives), timber estimation and a written test.

The foresters always manage to come up with challenging problems for the students and are very helpful in teaching the students at forestry camp and other venues.
Caveman

[SPIKER]

I did 30 years or so back    I couldnt see well enough to ID leaves at distance (bad eyes) so had to try & ID by bark only   ya I did OK but never made state due to the visual problems
I thought about getting ahold of local FFA to offer my property which has a good diversity in the woods and local to school. (5 miles)

Mark

[Magicman]

The FFA, previously known as Future Farmers of America,  Caveman 

I guess that I have been out of touch with the FFA for 50 years.  I have a State Farmer "Key", which at that, time was the highest award that could be achieved.  It's not the Future Farmers of America any more?

[WDH]

Yes.  For many years I was a dendrology judge and jury.

[Tom]

There is still an FFA
https://www.ffa.org/Events/NationalFFAConvention/Registration/Pages/default.aspx

[Brian_Rhoad]

My son did the contest this Summer at Penn State. He was the only 9th grader there and didn't know what to expect. He is taking the Forestry, Aquaculture and Wildlife course this year in FFA and should be better prepared next Summer.

[caveman]

They officially changed the name to National FFA Organization a few years ago but most folks still recognize it as Future Farmers of America.  I am glad to see that some of you are involved with the FFA forestry career development events.  That particular contest takes a lot of preparation but is very beneficial to the students as well as the forest industries as they stress BMP's, prescribed fire (at least in the south), and sustainability.  These are good concepts for all responsible citizens to have an understanding of.

Magicman, they still offer an FFA state degree to those students who meet the criteria and submit the paperwork as well as an American degree to those graduates who meet that degree's requirements.

I never properly introduced myself to the forum but I appreciate reading the posts and learning from all of you.
Caveman

[WDH]

Caveman,


Go to your profile and declare where you are located.  This is a big world, and things in the North and not the same as things in the South, no matter where in the world that you are.  Also, the our North has less of an appreciation for grits  .  We need to know these things in order to help the less culinarily fortunate cope  .

[Magicman]

After graduating from HS and leaving the FFA, it was 45 years before I officially became a farmer, but the projects, training, and skills have served me well throughout my lifetime.

[caveman]

Grits are near the top of my list of favorite vegetables.  I eat several potfuls a week for lunch.  Thankfully we do not have to pick them a grit at a time.  I would really enjoy going to the Moultrie Ag Expo next week to visit and learn from those of you who will be in attendance but I will be chaperoning a group of kids at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis.  There will be about 55000 FFA members in Indy for the convention.  Thankfully we are only taking one bus load. 

[Mooseherder]

This kinda ties it all in.

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,36659.0.html

[SwampDonkey]

We had a liberal premier from 1992 until 1999 that pretty much tried to wipe out the trades, farming and forestry to sit in call centres and finance large corporations with government welfare to the hilt.

[Phorester]

I've helped train forestry judging teams for decades.  Also set up contests on the local and federation levels.  Fortunately, FFA and Vo-AG is still strong in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.  We still help with the contest every fall.

Sign of the times - about 10 years ago we had the Federation level contest in one of my counties.  A couple of the schools from counties close to Washington DC participated. A more urban, liberal way of life.  There were 4 female high school students 15-17 years old on those teams that were pregnant. 

By the way, those schools no longer have Vo-Ag curriculums.  As those teachers retired, they were not replaced. But as I said, it's still strong here in the Valley.

[caveman]

Phorester, you struck a nerve with that post.  I am not at all upset with you for it--only that it is sad that it is not an isolated incident.  Our FFA president and the sr. member of our forestry team is pregnant and recently married.  Well, she was the president until she got pregnant.  Her mother was in tears when she told me about it over the summer.  She also told me the girl was more worried about facing me than her (mother) or her dad with the news. Our all girl team did win the district contest and will compete in the state contest later this month.  I have never had to schedule forestry practices around pre-natal visits.  In the long run, this kid should do okay but she has surely made her next few years a lot more difficult.

Our school is located in what some would refer to as a depressed urban area although our forestry team members live in communities that are not in the immediate vacinity of the school.  Well over 70% of our school population are on free or reduced lunch.   

[Phorester]

Depressing, Caveman. Kids raising kids - a tough row to hoe for the entire family, if there's more than just the young mother and her new child involved.

I've had the opportunity to talk to several Vo-Ag students and teachers in the last few weeks.  The students told me that, even though few of them plan on being on a farm or even a closely related career, they felt that the practical things they learned in their Vo-Ag classes were interesting and would help them later in life.  I know that one of my most useful high school classes was the 6 months of shop I took in my senior year.  I was already interested in woodworking a little, and that class gave me the basic knowledge and skills that I still use today. For the ones in FFA they get exposed to public speaking, parlimentary procedure, lots of contests where they learn teamwork and working for a goal, etc.

The teachers said that about 15 - 20% of the students go into an agricultural related field after high school or college.

[BrothersMule]

I was the Vise President of our FFA when i was in high school and competted on the forestry team all four years. I was an alternate my freshman year when they went to nationals.  we only made it to state each year after that. Only missed nationals buy 2 points my senior year . When i was competting we were tested in four sections: ID, Cut and Leave, Pulp wood, and Board Feet measurement. It was great fun and always got you out of the class room and in the woods  . It seems it is still going strong around here. I see alot of students hanging out with their blue and yellow FFA jackets around town. I know they have always had the jackets but we never got them. Guess we thought we were too cool back then. Seems i see alot of young girls joining around here now also. We only had one or two join each year when i was in school. Im glad to see it is still alive and hopefully expanding. Lord knows our youth really needs to get out side and back to nature.

[caveman]

Our team did well today and will head to the national contest next October.

[SwampDonkey]

I was wondering if the province of Manitoba has such an association for high school students. In Manitoba, they teach some forestry based courses in high school. Unless their curriculum has changed. Being a prairie province you wouldn't think trees, but in the SE corner of the province they have hardwood forest. And to the north there is mixed boreal forest.