The FFA is an intra-curricular student organization that is one of three components of Agriculture Education.

1) Future Farmers of America (FFA) 2) Classroom/Laboratory instruction and 3) Supervised Agriculture Experiences (SAEs)

All three components work together, allowing students hands-on experiences. Our members live the FFA motto “Learning to Do, Doing to Earn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.”

FFA Officers:

Officer elections will be held in the spring of 2024. 

Teams:

The Hermitage FFA program participates in the following Career Development Events (CDEs) in the spring of 2024: Forestry, Wildlife Management, Vet Science, and Floriculture. Competitions in these areas will begin soon, and students are working to earn positions on these teams. The Southern District and State competitions are generally held annually in March and April. 

The Hermitage FFA recently competed in Leadership Development Events (LDEs) at the Pine Tree Sub-Area contest. Alli Cathey placed second in the FFA Creed speaking event, and Paisley Stanley placed third. In the Discussion Meet, sponsored by Farm Bureau, Ruby Baker placed second. Alli and Ruby will advance to the district-level contest in late February of 2024. 

Along with the CDEs and LDEs, Hermitage FFA has a long and rich history of students exhibiting livestock. In the fall of 2023, our students exhibited swine, cattle, and goats at the Bradley County Fair; the 4 States Livestock Show in Texarkana, AR; the Southeast Arkansas District Fair in Pine Bluff, AR; the Arkansas Expo in Fayetteville, AR; and the Arkansas State Fair in Little Rock, AR. Cattle were shown at the Harrison Thanksgiving Cattle Show in Harrison, AR, and the AG Expo at the Ike in West Monroe, LA. Hermitage had one senior, Grant Ferrell, who was very successful this year and throughout his previous exhibiting and showmanship career. Other Hermitage FFA high school exhibitors include Madison Outlaw, Colton McKinney, Parker O’Neal, Emma Outlaw, and Cooper McKinney. We also had elementary 4-H students who exhibited livestock, and we look forward to promoting them into the FFA program.  

Several students attended an FFA Impact Leadership Conference at SAU and A Green Careers Expo at the School of Forestry at UAM.