FFA Corner: Officer team is sowing the seeds of fellowship

Following the busy 10 days at the Illinois State Fair, with over 52,500 people passing through the barnyard, all six major state officers returned to Springfield for in-depth training on workshop delivery with the help of a National FFA facilitator.

Following these two days were another two days of speech training brought to them by Andrew McCrea. These days of training were preparing the state officers for five weeks of chapter visits and leadership training schools.

During these weeks, each section will be visited by one or two state officers, along with the section president and the section officers.

During the five weeks, they will visit almost every school in each of the 25 sections across the state, giving a roughly 40-minute workshop to nearly 400 FFA chapters.

This year’s state theme is “Legacy” — and the chapter visits bring this theme to life by focusing on building a “Legacy of Fellowship.”

Diving back into state fair mode, the Illinois FFA major state officers then made their way down to the Du Quoin State Fair. At the fair, the state officers cut the ribbon and walked in the parade along with the local section officer teams.

Then the following Monday, State President Bryer Nelson, State Vice President Collin Johnson, State Reporter Haven Cash and State Treasurer Lane Perry attended Farmyard Follies, a fun-filled agriculture Olympics-type of event held for District 5 FFA chapters.

The officers had a blast lending a helping hand where they could in addition to interacting with members from all over southern Illinois.

The next few days, the major state officers rehearsed for their upcoming S.T.A.R. — or Section Teams Activities and Responsibilities — Conferences across the state, chapter visits and leadership training school speeches. In the mix was also the September Illinois FFA board meeting held virtually.

After enjoying the Labor Day weekend, the state officers prepared to split up and conquer once again.

This time, Nelson, Perry and State Sentinel Levi German headed to S.T.A.R. Conferences for Districts 2, 3 and 4.

Johnson, Cash and State Secretary Owen Rigg headed to S.T.A.R. Conferences for Districts 1 and 5, as well as Southern Illinois University Greenhand and C.O.L.T. — or Chapter Officer Leadership Training — Conference and the Western Illinois University Greenhand Conference.

Haven Cash from the North Clay FFA Chapter is the 2026-2027 Illinois Association FFA state reporter.