Cameron Williams won the Mr. FFA pageant and took home a shield to be displayed in his high school.
Agriculture and beauty pageants don’t normally go hand in hand, but they do in South Carolina. At the end of National FFA Week, the Pendleton FFA Chapter hosts an annual Mr. FFA pageant. This is where middle and high school boys compete in interviews, applications and onstage appearances.
In 2024, Cameron Williams from the York FFA Chapter won the coveted title of Mr. FFA. Williams competed in the pageant for two years and placed in the top five each time.
“I will never forget the joy I felt when I won Mr. FFA,” he says. “My legs were shaking up on stage, and I can remember the excitement that ran through me when I heard my name called.”
Williams describes Mr. FFA as a role to advocate for agriculture and FFA and says he sees it as an opportunity to showcase how important agriculture is in our lives.
“My favorite part is the people I got to meet and know from my two years competing,” Williams adds. “I connected with so many people during the competition, and a few of them I still talk to all the time.”
Ava Nimmons was named the 2024 Mrs. FFA. She also won the top application award.
Along with the Mr. FFA pageant, there is also a Mrs. FFA pageant. This is where high school ladies are evaluated through an application, interview and evening wear.
This past March, 90 young ladies competed for the title, and Ava Nimmons of the Seneca FFA Chapter was presented as Mrs. FFA. Nimmons has been competing in Mrs. FFA for three years.
“It felt surreal,” she says. “I felt accomplished and saw all the hard work I have put into my SAE [Supervised Agricultural Experience], FFA and other agricultural events.”
Nimmons chose to compete in this competition not only to wear a pretty dress but also “to meet other women in agriculture who shared the same passion for agriculture that I have.”
This competition brought her new friends and, in her words, the opportunity to continue to advocate for agriculture on a new and larger platform. Nimmon’s favorite memory of competing in the Mrs. FFA pageant is not winning but “my FFA advisor and agriculture teacher, Ms. Swygert, running up to hug me after the pageant.” Mariah Swygert put in long hours to help prep for this competition, so Nimmons says she “could never even imagine doing the pageant if it wasn’t for her.”
Mr. FFA and Mrs. FFA are not only pageants where you watch young men dance on stage or young women show elegance and class; they showcase the future of agriculture.
