Future Farmers of America
This story is about the two creeds used by the original FFA organization before FFA didn’t stand for Future Farmers of America anymore. The organization changed its name in 1988 from the Future Farmers of America to the National FFA Organization. This change happened during the 1980s Farm Crisis. The nation was losing about 300,000 farming families and the Future Farmers of America dropped, “farmers,” from its name.
It really makes me pause and wonder if the original creed writers thought “farmers” would be taken out of the official name of the FFA organization. Times sure change. Names may change too, but the need for more farmers here in the USA 🇺🇸 and across the world doesn’t change.
The teaching resources link I shared below explains that during the first three years of the fruition of the Future Farmers of America, the first two FFA Manuals, printed in 1929 and 1930 contained, “The Future Farmers Creed.” Included in this post is the creed from the 1929 mimeographed manual.
Also, according to the link at the end of this writing, “The Future Farmer’s Creed was an adaptation of ‘The Country Boy’s Creed’ written by Edwin Osgood Grover. (I also included an image of that creed in this post). It appears the Country Boy’s Creed was used in conjunction with the Boy’s Corn Club activities that preceded the FFA. Please note the similarities between the two creeds.”
Let’s read the two old creeds and ponder. Below I pulled my favorite lines from the writings and put them in quotations. You can consider your favorites too.
My favorite excerpts from the original creeds:
“I believe that work is work wherever I find it, but that work with nature is more inspiring than work with the most intricate machinery.”
“I believe that the dignity of labor depends not on what you do, but on how you do it … “
“I believe in working when you work, and playing when you play, and in giving and demanding a square deal in every act of life.”
“I believe in the beauty of God's open country; that life out of doors and in touch with the earth is the natural life of man.”
While it concerns me, I am not concerning myself with putting “farmers” back in the official name of FFA. I have other work to do that I can more realistically accomplish. But rest assured, I am dedicated to listening to the next generation and their ideas, and many of their dreams are to be rural and urban farmers. I am also committed to helping more farmers stay on the land and not only survive – but also thrive.
One more excerpt from the creed written by a wise soul nearly 100 years ago, “I believe … that life on the farm may be full, happy, and free.”
I believe that should be the case on the farm too. I want to work with others to help bring the farm to life again. Full, happy, free, and enough food for everyone: real life. You can’t leave farmers out of that equation. Names come and go. We need future farmers of America forever.
Teaching assets about the topics above can be found here: https://footnote.wordpress.ncsu.edu/2020/01/16/the-origins-and-revisions-of-the-ffa-creed-1-17-2020/
I also included images in this story relating to agriculture from the 1980s Farm Crisis and images from around the time the Future Farmers of America organization was established in the late 1920s.
Copyright© 2026 All Rights Reserved, Kerry Hoffschneider.
Comments