Trey Myers Vows to Lead with Connection as National FFA President

When Trey Myers’ name was called to be the next FFA president at the 98th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, he almost slipped.

“Before they announced everything, one of the backstage managers came up to us and said, ‘Make sure you don’t run too fast; the floor is slick,’” he recalled with a laugh. “But in the moment, your heart rate skyrockets. I took off and almost fell down running up on stage. Then, when I hit the huddle with the team, I actually head-butted Jael Cruikshank, our Western Region vice president. That was our first memory as a team.”

Myers grew up in Perkins, Oklahoma, “home of the original Pistol Pete,” he notes, which is just down the road from Stillwater and Oklahoma State University.

“I grew up basically a cowboy since the day I was born,” he said. Now an OSU student, he’s majoring in applied exercise science with plans for physical therapy. “It’s not exactly your typical major for an FFA student. But the things I learned inside the blue jacket 100 percent correlate, not only to physical therapy, but to day-to-day life.”

He told AGDAILY in an exclusive interview that his path to the blue jacket wasn’t preordained.

“I initially joined just to get out of class,” he said with a laugh. “My older brother showed hogs, so I thought I’d show goats. But then I went to Alumni Leadership Camp, met my first small group — Group 19 — and it was the most transformative week of my life.”

The experience launched him into public speaking, state office, and ultimately a national campaign.

That journey culminated on November 1, 2025, when Myers, formerly of the Perkins-Tryon FFA Chapter, was elected National FFA president.

Oklahoma FFA leaders point out the significance: Myers is Oklahoma’s 24th national officer and ninth national president, more than any other state. “It still sounds a little bit crazy to say,” he admitted. “But here we are.”

Embracing technology, without losing our roots

Ask Myers about the future of agriculture and he doesn’t hesitate.

“We aren’t waiting for the next agricultural revolution to start — I think we’re living in it,” he said. “It’s time we step up and lead it.”

For him, that begins with how FFA equips members to thrive in a tech-driven industry.

“FFA says we’re growing the next generation of leaders who will change the world, and I think we’re doing that through conferences like Next Gen,” he said. “They provide students with the skills they need while they’re in FFA so they can step out into the workforce and be those leaders who will lead our world.”

He’s particularly energized by the way students can connect with employers and apply what they learn.

“You can come home, apply it to a Supervised Agricultural Experience, and later, when you graduate, reach back out to those connections and possibly line up a job,” he said. “That’s powerful.”

Myers is fascinated by what’s rolling off the line, too, mentioning John Deere’s precision systems, “an auto-steer that can get within something like 2.5 centimeters on pass accuracy,” he said, still impressed. “You can press go, and it’ll take care of what you need it to take care of, completely automated. That’s absolutely crazy.”

Then, with a grin, “If you’re like me and enjoy the peace and quiet of sitting in a tractor, maybe you don’t love it. So it’s up to the user.”

Yet in the same breath, Myers insists technology can’t replace FFA’s heart. “At the root of what we do as an organization is service,” he said. “That should absolutely never change, because that’s where life takes the most meaning — when we place other people’s needs above our own. I think the American farmer does that better than anyone in our entire country.”

For Myers, the bridge between ag roots and ag tech starts with people.

“We live in one of the most connected yet disconnected societies ever to exist,” he said. “I think it starts with human connection — simply having conversations with people. From there, the answers may vary, but it starts with talking to each other.”

He’s not shy about practicing what he preaches. “I got a flip phone for about two weeks at the beginning of the semester and put my iPhone away,” he said. “It was the best two weeks of my entire life. Life slows down a little bit, and you appreciate the people around you. You have conversations in elevators.”

That posture of eyes up, heart open, shapes his goals for the year. “I want to make members feel seen and valued,” he said. “The power of the blue jacket is its ability to connect people all across the nation.”

Success vs. significance

If Myers could launch one initiative, he said it would challenge members to chase what lasts.

“I think the biggest initiative I can send out is the difference between success and significance,” he said, referencing a Tim Tebow talk that stuck with him. “Success is about you, but significance is about serving others. When I look back on my FFA journey, it was filled with significance — people who became family, and a culture that showed me the value of placing others’ needs above my own.”

Two words anchor the way he hopes to serve: purpose and stewardship. “I don’t want this year to be about ‘Trey Myers’ or living in a title,” he said. “I want it filled with purpose, leaving this organization and ultimately this world better than I found it. A past national officer told me, ‘This candidacy isn’t yours to have; it’s yours to steward.’ I’m not going to claim to have all the answers, but I will listen to the people who do.”

Myers’ leadership style has been shaped in unexpected places, like the training room beneath Oklahoma State’s football stadium, where he works as a sports medicine student aide. “You can boil it down to, ‘I’m a water boy,’ ” he said, smiling. But one moment there changed his outlook.

“Rashad Owens — he was the guy. Everyone looked up to him in Cowboy football,” Myers said, referring to the former OSU wide receiver who now plays pro. “I was new, just trying to hand people waters and not say anything. I’d had a rough day. Before practice, I took a knee next to him, handed him a water, and somehow he had found out my name. He said, ‘Trey, are you doing OK? You seem really off today.’ Five seconds. He probably wouldn’t even remember it. But two years later, I still remember. I want to lead this year the way Rashad led me — with awareness, empathy, and kindness.”

Getting comfortable being uncomfortable

Myers believes growth lives on the far side of discomfort. “Everyone wants to be strong, but nobody wants to be sore,” he said. “Everything we want in life is on the other side of vulnerability.”

He felt it when he walked into his first speech contest and again, recently, when he tried Brazilian jiu-jitsu. “I almost backed out,” he admitted. “But I pushed myself, showed up, and had a great hour and a half. The first guy I rolled with? His name was Biggs,” he laughed. “That was a little scary.”

The discipline carried him through a grueling fall season, 35-hour work weeks with the football team, school, interview prep. “There’s a saying from the Navy SEALs: Eat the elephant one bite at a time,” Myers said. “Do the small tasks you can right now so you can do the harder stuff later. Focus on doing the little things great first.”

Myers credits his rise to people who practiced quiet, intentional service, such as former Oklahoma FFA State President Caleb Horn.

“My first speech contest was the year after Caleb won state,” Myers said. “Everyone respected him. I was terrified and not put together. He noticed my tie was a mess, pulled me aside in the bathroom, and retied it. I didn’t place that day, but later I did — and then we became teammates.”

Years later, Horn and his wife drove 10 hours to celebrate Myers in Indianapolis. “Giving him a hug was special,” Myers said. “I thought back to where it started, with a tie in a bathroom. Caleb embodies what it means to be a servant. That’s what FFA instills so well.”

If there’s one myth Myers hopes to puncture, it’s that FFA is only for students who’ll go home to a farm.

“FFA isn’t just for the ag students that are going to go back home and farm,” he said. “I want to go into physical therapy, and everything I learned inside the jacket still applies. If you’re willing to be uncomfortable and try new things, there’s a place for you here.”

He wants that welcome to be felt by every member — whether they’re showing goats, coding precision-ag tools, or speaking on a national stage. “How do we foster a deeper sense of community?” he asked. “In a world that’s connected and disconnected, I want to rebuild small-group connection — the kind I found in Group 19 at Alumni Leadership Camp, and take it across the country.”

Myers is clear-eyed about the challenge of stepping off the convention stage and back into real life. “What I wasn’t expecting was the difficulty of coming back to Stillwater and trying to get everything taken care of before leaving,” he said. “You go from a mountaintop moment (cloud nine) to exams, homework, and a lot thrown on your plate. But it’ll all be worth it.”

Soon, he and Cruikshank, who also attends OSU, will drive to Indianapolis to begin their year of service. He smiles at the thought of the miles ahead, the classrooms and shops and chapter meetings, the hugs and the head-butts and the small moments that become big ones. “I hope people feel seen and valued,” he said. “The power of the blue jacket is its ability to connect people all across the nation.”

And when the schedule gets heavy, he knows the plan: “Eat the elephant one bite at a time,” Myers said. “Do the little things great. Serve people. Put the phone down sometimes. Have the conversation. That’s how we lead, in agriculture, and in life.

Heidi Crnkovic, is the Associate Editor for AGDAILY. She is a New Mexico native with deep-seated roots in the Southwest and a passion for all things agriculture.