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, 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 TokyoMeeting 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
- Visiting Zen Noh Silo
The annual trip allows National FFA Officers 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 of 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 globally.