Students advocate for Wetsel FFA program

Madison County’s future farmers are advocating for agricultural education for their younger middle school counterparts.

During Monday’s school board meeting, several Future Farmers of America (FFA) students spoke, advocating for the creation of a middle school chapter of the organization. Treasurer Lily Breeden said the FFA program at the high school has seen a rejuvenation in recent years, being rebuilt in 2022, increasing from zero students to 30 in 2023 and 70 in 2024. A second teacher was added to the program and in 2025 membership grew to 126 members with 100% member participation. She said agricultural education is the same as sports programs with the middle school serving as a feeder for the high school. 

“Without middle school exposure, students are entering high school FFA with less experience, less confidence and less time to develop skills for competition,” Breeden said. 

She estimated adding a full-time educator for a middle school program would cost approximately $54,000, not including necessary classroom space and equipment. However, Breeden said a more cost-effective plan would be to have each of the existing high school agriculture teachers teach one block of middle school students per day, receiving fourth block pay of $7,000-9,000 per teacher or $14,000 to $16,000 per year.

“This uses the current staff, existing classroom and reduces the need for new facilities or major construction,” she said. “This would be a strategic investment.”

Vice president Bridget Wolf said a survey of more than 200 middle school students revealed that half would be interested in a middle school FFA chapter and many are interested in agriculture and its related career pathways.

“The results clearly show strong student support for expanding agriculture education, an interest in agriculture careers and a student-led agriculture club,” she said.

President Joshua Sarver said agriculture education connects the school system to the local community and economy. In Virginia, there are currently 39 middle schools with agriculture programs.

“These programs have been shown to improve hands-on learning, boost academic performance, increase STEM engagement and build sustainability awareness,” he said. “Agricultural education connects students to real careers in our community.”

School board members said they were impressed by the students who came with numbers, specifics and details. Board member Graham Davidson asked the students to compile a one-page executive summary to be used by the board as reference material as they work on the budget.

“The FFA program is a shining spot here in Madison,” he said. “You guys are leading the way.”

In April, the FFA students celebrated the opening of the FFA barn at Young Farmers Fairgrounds. The barn was created by renovating the former sorghum shack and now houses four pigs–Shelby, Martin, Porsche and Maverick–as well as a steer, Mr. Midnight, and a goat, Megan. The group also recently completed its annual greenhouse sale.