Nebraska FFA celebrates series of landmark achievements

Spring has yet to arrive, but FFA is already blossoming in Nebraska in remarkable fashion.

Consider what’s happening in Gibbon, a town of 1,878 in Buffalo County. The high school started its first FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) chapter in fall 2023 as part of the dramatic increase Nebraska has seen in its number of FFA chapters.

From 2010 to 2025, the number of chapters has jumped from 133 to 218 — an increase of 64%.

That surge is responding to local demand for the kind of broad-based, ag-focused youth development FFA is known for, said agricultural educator Kealey Widdowson, adviser for the Gibbon chapter.

In Gibbon, creation of the chapter “filled a gap that had been there for a long time,” said Widdowson, an alumna of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication. 

“In just a few years, I’ve watched students who were once quiet and unsure stand up and give speeches, lead meetings, run fundraisers and represent our school at the district and state level," she said. "That kind of growth is powerful.”

FFA gives youths real opportunities not just to compete, but to find confidence, purpose and direction, Widdowson said. Learning goes beyond raising livestock or managing crops; students develop leadership and communication skills, as well.

Nebraska is having a special moment right now when it comes to key FFA connections. Over the past months, the state has amassed a number of achievements:

• Claire Woeppel, an ALEC sophomore from Chambers, was chosen as a national FFA officer during the 2025 national convention. She is the first Nebraskan to hold a national FFA office since Brennan Costello served as Central Region vice president in 2012-13. In beginning her service as a national FFA officer, Woeppel said “agricultural education and FFA provide students with opportunities that shape them into the person they desire to become.” Those opportunities “are pivotal to a student’s leadership journey.”
• At the 2025 national FFA convention, the Overton FFA chapter was named the national champion team in the Environmental and Natural Resources Career Development Event. This rigorous competition requires students to demonstrate exceptional agricultural and environmental knowledge. The title marks Nebraska’s first-ever national championship in the event and only the second national championship earned by a Nebraska FFA team in the last 98 years. Agricultural education teacher Juliana Loudon advises the team, which received key preparation by competing last year in the event at the Nebraska state conference. “Overton’s national title is an incredible achievement in highly competitive arenas,” said Andrew Little, associate professor with the School of Natural Resources, who developed the state event.
• The national FFA convention also presented Matt Kreifels, professor of practice and program coordinator for agricultural education in the ALEC department, with the national organization’s highest honor, the National FFA Alumni and Supporters Outstanding Achievement Award, saluting exceptional leadership and service to agricultural education and FFA.

Current Husker undergraduates point to multiple benefits their FFA experiences have had for them.

Melany Preister, a freshman from Albion aiming to become an agricultural educator, listed a series of skills she gained, including experience with parliamentary procedure and leading meetings, public speaking, giving sales calls and building connections with others through Career Development Event activities. She is a student coordinator helping plan and organize the events for the Nebraska State FFA Convention March 25-27.

Isela Horwart, a senior from Broken Bow now student teaching in Axtell, said FFA’s career development activities help students identify their strengths, interests and attitudes.

"This early exposure supports a strong pipeline of informed, skilled individuals who are prepared to contribute to Nebraska agriculture and related industries for years to come," she said.

Keetyn Valentine, a junior from David City, said by exposing students to real-world agricultural issues, leadership development and career exploration, FFA strengthens the future workforce of the industry.

"FFA helps ensure Nebraska agriculture continues to grow with well-prepared individuals who understand both its traditions and its future needs," she said.

The university’s ALEC department has taken strategic steps to support the state’s agricultural educators, given the ongoing demand. In 2025, Nebraska public school districts had 55 openings for agricultural educators. ALEC has three outstate regional faculty — Troy White in the Panhandle, Stacie Turnbull in central Nebraska and Monty Larsen in northeast Nebraska — who support the state’s ag educators on a direct, day-to-day basis.

Sydney Linse, a 2024 Husker grad now teaching ag education in Boyd County, praised the Ag-STEM Center that White created to strengthen practical training for ag teachers and undergraduates studying to become ag educators.

ALEC also hired Becky Haddad, with firsthand experience as a high school ag teacher and FFA adviser, as a tenure-track faculty member to focus on enhanced teacher preparation and other supportive strategies to meet the need.

For Preister, FFA’s importance extends to individual members and to the state’s economy.

“FFA has led me to where I am today, and I could not be more grateful,” she said. “The value that FFA has on Nebraska agriculture is genuinely positive and so strong. Each individual who chooses to be a part of FFA is saying yes to something bigger than they can even imagine.”