FFA Brings Thousands to Campus

May 2, 2019
james and goldy

From April 28-30, the University of Minnesota hosted the 90th Annual Minnesota State FFA Convention. The event brought nearly 4,000 youth from across Minnesota to campus to address the challenges and opportunities ahead in the wide-ranging industry of agriculture. CFANS Dean Brian Buhr spoke during the convention, focusing on the University of Minnesota’s legacy of generating great leaders.

“Here at the University of Minnesota, we will encourage you to aspire to be who you want to be,” he said. “You can literally save the world. Aspire to be that person here at the University of Minnesota.”

As part of a welcome video, CFANS student and State President Grace Taylor told students, “CFANS is where I learned that knowing who you want to be when you grow up is as important as knowing what you want to be”

In her retiring address she reminded students to strive to “be part of something great. To make history. To change the world. Sometimes it seems impossible to do, given that we are just one person. By choosing grace, you can be a part of something greater every day. You can make history in someone's life and you can change the way people view the world. All of our dreams, all of our goals and all of our greatness start here.”

CFANS will again have a strong presence within 2019-20 leadership, with four of the six-membered officer team including admitted freshmen to CFANS. They are Lafe Aarsvold, president, from Plainview Elgin Millville; Nicholas Potthoff, vice president, from Martin County West; Elaine Dorn, secretary, from Randolph; and Madilyn Smith, treasurer, from Fillmore Central. Also in leadership roles are Britton Fuglseth, reporter, from Fertile Beltrami and Savannah Aanerud, sentinel, from Morris Area. Many more CFANS community members were recognized during the convention. Read the complete results.

FFA is a national organization developing students’ potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education with more than 600,000 members in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The Minnesota FFA Association represents nearly 11,000 members and almost 200 high school chapters across the state. Agricultural education engages students through hands-on learning in the classroom, work-based learning opportunities known as Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) projects and FFA activities.