Indianapolis, IN (Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024) – The 2023-24 National FFA Officer Team recently returned from Japan, where they participated in an international program in conjunction with sister organization Future Farmers of Japan (FFJ), strengthening a partnership that dates back to 1950. This is the first time the national officer team has been able to continue this tradition of traveling to Japan since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

Throughout their ten-day trip, the six officers engaged in a variety of cultural and agricultural experiences, including:

• Briefing with Senior Agriculture Attaché Mark Wallace at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo
• Meeting with FFJ students at Tokyo Metropolitan Engei High School and Osaka Prefectural Engei High School
• Meeting an 88-year-old daikon (radish) farmer in Kagoshima, Japan, specifically on Sakurajima Island, home to a 26,000-year-old volcano
• Visiting the Miyajima Cattle Farm, an F1 Hybrid cattle farm with over 1,000 F1 cows (first-generation offspring produced by crossing two purebred parental breeds)
• Strawberry picking at Takenouchi farm
• Visiting Koiso Japanese Tea Company and processing facility
• Visiting JA Kagoshima Mirai Kagoshim-Sakurajima citrus sorting site
• Touring the Aeon Supermarket
• Visting Zen Noh Silo

The annual trip provides National FFA Officers the chance to experience firsthand how agriculture transcends geographical boundaries.

“From farm succession to hydroponics, and tea farming to trade ports, it was impactful to see firsthand how different, yet similar, the world operates,” said National FFA Eastern Region Vice President Morgan Anderson, who is from Ohio. “Culturally, the world is expansive and diverse, but there is one common factor between all of us – agriculture. I feel a deeper sense of unity knowing that we all are working to feed the world no matter how that looks.”

Each year at the National FFA Convention & Expo, the National FFA Organization selects six student members to represent the organization as National FFA Officers. The primary responsibility of a national officer is to serve the organization in local, state, national and international activities in a way that will inform, motivate and inspire FFA members, advisors, state staff, teachers and others to achieve the mission, strategies and core goals of the organization. The officers will share knowledge gained from their experience in Japan with state chapter members, including during National FFA Week (February 17-24), during which they will travel across the country to meet with state representatives.

“I was honored to join the National FFA Officer team for their International Experience Program to Japan this year,” said Scott Stump, CEO for the National FFA Organization. “Throughout our travels, the officers gained a larger understanding of agriculture as a global industry. I’m excited for these young adults to continue advocating for agriculture, and I know they already recognize just how special FFA is to offer experiences like this.”

National officers dedicate one year of service to the organization. The time is spent representing student membership during meetings with the National FFA Board of Directors, facilitating workshops that bring leadership and knowledge to FFA members, delivering motivational speeches, and serving as advocates for FFA on a global scale.

For more information about the National FFA Organization, visit www.ffa.org.

The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 945,000 student members as part of 9,163 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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About Agriculture Future of America
AFA builds bridges for young leaders to foster engagement and innovation in food and agriculture through premier leader and career development experiences. With program participation increasing 28% in the last five years, AFA has provided 26,000 leader development experiences to college leaders and young professionals from more than 200 colleges and universities throughout 43 states since its inception in 1996. AFA has awarded more than $11.5 million in academic and leader development scholarships. For more information about AFA, visit agfuture.org.

About National FFA Organization
The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 945,000 student members as part of 9,163 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The FFA mission 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. For more, visit the National FFA Organization online at FFA.org and on Facebook and Twitter.

About National FFA Foundation
The National FFA Foundation builds partnerships with industry, education, government, other foundations, and individuals to secure financial resources that recognize FFA member achievements, develop student leaders, and support the future of agricultural education. Governed by a 19-member board of trustees composed of educators, business leaders, individual donors and FFA Alumni, the foundation is a separately registered nonprofit organization. About 82 percent of every dollar received by the foundation supports FFA members and agricultural education opportunities. For more, visit FFA.org/Give.