FFA national officer team explores agriculture, culture in Japan

The 2024-25 National FFA Officer Team recently returned from the National FFA Officers International Experience Program in Japan, where they experienced Japanese culture and agriculture in partnership with the sister organization Future Farmers of Japan. This annual trip allows National FFA Officers to experience firsthand how agriculture transcends geographical boundaries and strengthens a partnership that dates back to 1950.

The NOIEP develops the national officers’ language skills, business practices, and communication techniques to build cross-cultural cooperation while providing an opportunity for them to practice peer leadership on an international scale, explore the complexities and implications of agriculture as part of the international landscape, and expand their cultural competency through reflected and guided instruction.

Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Kagoshima

Throughout their 10-day trip from Jan. 25 to Feb. 5, the six student leaders engaged in a variety of experiences, including:

• A traditional tea ceremony and green tea factory tour
• Aeon Shinagawa Seaside and Aeon Supermarket
• Briefings with Minister Counselor Jeanne Bailey, Agricultural Attachés Erica
• Summe and Craig Elliott, and Agricultural Assistant Akiko Satake at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, meetings with FFJ students at Tokyo Metropolitan Engei High School
• A bamboo forest
• Traditional Japanese garden and stately home designated a World Heritage Site,
• Miyajima Cattle Farm, an F1 Hybrid cattle farm with over 1,000 F1 cows, and the Japan Plant Factory Association, where they work to develop and disseminate sustainable systems that can address global challenges.

“As I travel across the country and around the world as part of this incredible organization, I am consistently reminded that agriculture is a common thread bringing us all together,” said National FFA Eastern Region Vice President Caroline Groth. “We have more in common than we have differences, and although the world is expansive and diverse and agricultural and cultural practices differ from place to place, we’re all working toward the same goal of making our families, communities, and world better.”

Each fall 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 15 to 22), during which they will travel across the country to meet with state representatives.

2024-25 FFA National Team

• President: Thaddeus Bergschneider, Illinois
• Secretary: Luke Jennings, Ohio
• Eastern Region Vice President: Caroline Groth, Kentucky
• Central Region Vice President: Mary Schrieber, Wisconsin
• Southern Region Vice President: Jack Lingenfelter, Georgia
• Western Region Vice President: Abigale Jacobsen, California

“Joining the National FFA Officer Team for their International Experience Program to Japan this year was an incredible opportunity to see the power of FFA in action,” said Skylar Clingan, Program Specialist National Officer Coach for the National FFA Organization. “Our student leaders were able to engage in international relations and cultural exchanges and gain a larger understanding of agriculture as a global industry. I’m excited for these young adults to continue growing and advocating for agriculture.”

»Related: Meet Thaddeus Bergschneider, the new National FFA President from Illinois