Living to Serve

Chalk up another big win for the state of Texas and the agriculture industry, thanks to the newest members of the Texas FFA. During the 2012-13 school year, the Texas FFA Association added more students than any other state in the nation. With 8,533 new members, total FFA membership in the Lone Star State now stands at 95,015.

Nationally, FFA set a record. Membership in the association stands at 579,678 students in grades seven through 12. More than 22,300 new students joined FFA last year. The number of local FFA chapters throughout the country has grown to 7,570.

You might be asking yourself, What does this mean to me and why is it so important? These FFA chapters are training our future leaders, developing responsible citizens and opening up minds to the world we live in — without abandoning the heritage that brought us to the level of prosperity we enjoy today.

I encourage urban and rural students to check out their local FFA chapter to learn about the many ways they can be a part of today’s agricultural world. From large animal veterinarians and biology researchers to marketing specialists and economic experts, today’s agriculture career opportunities are much broader than they were a generation ago. Texas agriculture will continue to be a large part of our state and nation’s economy, and I’m glad FFA is preparing some of our brightest leaders.

I continue to live by the FFA motto today, just as I did when I first memorized it; Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.