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In the early 1980s, Rhonda (Scheulen) Ludwig was just another Missouri farm kid. Growing up in what she calls “salt of the earth farming,” Ludwig worked in pig pens and hauled hay. The former Fatima FFA member embraced public speaking opportunities, showed hogs at county and state fairs and built her supervised agricultural experience project in swine production.

Little did she know, though, she would help pave the way for other Missouri farm girls as Missouri’s first female state FFA president.

“I credit FFA with everything, every bit of success I’ve had,” Ludwig explains.

An FFA member who could both walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk, Ludwig says at the time she was elected to lead Missouri’s largest youth organization she only felt blessed to serve the membership.

“At the time, I was very accepted and was just grateful to have the opportunity,” Ludwig says.

While women were first able to join the National FFA Organization in 1969, Ludwig became Missouri’s first female state president in 1981. She went on in 1983 to become the state’s first and only female national officer.

As men dominated the agricultural landscape in the 1980s, Ludwig says she might have received additional recognition as a female officer but never considered herself any different than her peers. She remembers as a Greenhand aspiring to become a state officer, but never the first female state president.

“I was a farm kid who had a great opportunity, who was blessed with skills primarily in public speaking,” she explains. “I tell kids all the time, whatever God gave you as a talent, use it. For me, that was public speaking.”

After graduating high school, Ludwig attended the University of Missouri-Columbia where she majored in agricultural journalism. She says the communications skills she honed through FFA helped her discover her niche in that career path.

“(Developing) those communications skills — the ability to write and speak — in FFA were the biggest things that led me to agricultural journalism,” Ludwig says.

There, Ludwig found her comfort zone, which led her to a more than 30-year-career in agricultural media sales.

“Had it not been for those communication and speaking opportunities through FFA, I’m not sure I would have found it,” she says.

Ludwig’s career path includes 12 years of agricultural radio advertising sales with the Brownfield Network in Jefferson City as well as 12-plus years with Farm Progress where she sold print advertising and another six years with RFD-TV as a Midwest account manager. Today, the former FFA member lives on a farm near Linn, Missouri, with husband, Dale. The couple has three children — Trent, Claire and Troy.

“FFA has been a huge part of my entire career,” Ludwig explains. “My first job out of college, I got because of the contacts I made through FFA. Then each one you make more contacts, and it eventually leads to another opportunity down the road.”

As a National FFA Officer, Ludwig says she was afforded many travel opportunities that helped her meet people all across the country.

“FFA gave me a leg up, a great start and a great opportunity,” she says.

Ludwig encourages FFA members to embrace moments when they can make a positive impression and put forth extra effort.

“Always take every opportunity to put forth your best self,” Ludwig says. “You can’t win a public speaking contest without doing what every great athlete has to do. You have to work at it. If you work at it and practice, you develop those skills. Then it pays off.”

Agriculture has changed much since Ludwig’s days in the blue corduroy. Industry pathways now include a vast array of opportunities from beyond traditional production agriculture, and Ludwig says that alone underscores the connections FFA brings to its members.

Quick to point out that her experiences in the organization were life changing, Ludwig says the work ethic she learned at home on the farm combined with her FFA involvement and learning to set goals helped her find success.

“There are no limits to what anybody can do, but it doesn’t just happen,” she advises. “You have to work hard; you have to earn it. “You have to put in the time, and you have to figure out what you want, what your goals are. Everyone’s goals are different.”

Missouri FFA is gearing up for its 93rd Annual State FFA Convention to be held later this week in Sedalia, Missouri. In the effort to hold an in-person event celebrating accomplishments of FFA members across the state while being responsible with current Covid-19-related health concerns, the event is set for April 30 and May 1 at the Mathewson Exhibition Center on the Missouri State Fairgrounds. The recognition-only event will be limited to award winners and two advisor/chaperones per school. Guest speakers, including National FFA Central Region Vice President and Missouri native Paxton Dahmer, will highlight the sessions, which will be live streamed for those unable to attend in person.

Morning and afternoon convention sessions are scheduled for Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1 with a goal of recognizing chapter activity awards, honorary state degree recipients, new FFA chapters, career development and leadership development event (CDE and LDE) winners, proficiency awards, star state degrees and state degree recipients. Other scholarship and essay winners will also be honored at the convention. CDEs and LDEs are currently planned during April at various times and locations in Columbia to accommodate social distancing protocols.

The sessions can be viewed via livestream at: https://livestream.com/modese/moffa

Student Workshops

Student workshops will be available the week of April 26 on missouriffa.org, highlighting 12 presentations from Dahmer, current state FFA officers, as well as Teach Ag Ambassadors and Post-Secondary Student organization officers, and can be viewed via a password-protected verification system for members.

Media Coverage

Missouri FFA will have a limited press room and have a new convention media website, which can be found at: www.convention.missouriffa.org. Four marked areas are available to media for interviews. These, along with our photographer and press room, will be in the Lowell Mohler Assembly Hall.  In the meantime, if we can help you find information you are used to having let us know.

Sponsors

As we work to recognize our sponsors, we have developed session sponsor videos.  We will play these at the beginning of each session and then share on social media.  Even though we are limiting attendance, we want to recognize our sponsors.  The success of Missouri FFA members is directly related to the support our sponsors provide.  We cannot thank you enough.

Covid Response

There is no higher priority of the Missouri FFA Association than the health, safety and well- being of our members, staff, volunteers and community partners. As we continue to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to make decisions with this in mind. As part of the Missouri FFA Association community, we all have a responsibility to help protect each other at all times. In compliance with current CDC recommendations, local mandates and/or statewide protocol, all attendees of the annual state FFA convention are asked to adhere to the following guidelines:

• In an effort to provide our award winning FFA members an in-person experience, attendance will be limited to award winners, 2 advisor/chaperones per chapter and a few special guests.

• Convention attendees are expected to wear face protection/face coverings in all indoor areas at all times.

• Social distancing is expected at all times while attending convention.

• Floor seating will be reserved for award winners only. Seating in the bowl area of Mathewson Exhibition Center will be limited to every other row. Some seating areas in the bowl area will be reserved.

• Convention attendees are strongly encouraged to practice good hygiene, wash hands frequently, not touch their face, and cover coughs and sneezes with the inside of their elbow or upper arm. Please stay home if you have a fever, cough or other COVID symptoms.

• Hand sanitizer stations will be placed throughout the convention meeting space.

• COVID-19 protocol signage will be posted in highly visible locations that promote everyday protective measures.

• Temperatures of convention staff will be taken daily. All individuals with a temperature of 100 degrees or higher will be isolated and sent home immediately.

• Daily temperature screenings are the responsibility of the Ag Instructor for their chapter attendees. Missouri FFA has implemented preventative measures to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. However, Missouri FFA cannot guarantee that members and attendees will not be exposed or infected.

For complete convention coverage follow @MissouriFFA on Facebook and visit missouriffa.org.

Governor Mike Parson proclaimed February 20-27, 2021, as National FFA Week in Missouri on behalf of nearly 26,000 members of Missouri FFA. Missouri FFA President Justin Eddy of Columbia received the proclamation on behalf of the 2020-2021 Missouri FFA State Officer team.

“Missouri agriculture has a bright future, and you can see that in action through our FFA members,” Governor Parson said. “Living and working on a farm is one of my greatest honors, and the First Lady and I continue to look to these young leaders to move the agriculture industry forward for generations to come.”

For the third year in a row, Governor Parson drove a John Deere tractor to the State Capitol in honor of the FFA tradition of students driving their tractors to school during National FFA Week. Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe also joined in on the tradition again this year with the Governor, demonstrating their ties to agriculture and commitment to FFA students.

Listen to Gov. Parson as he leads other state leaders in delivering the FFA Creed and a heartfelt tribute to Missouri FFA. 

by Joann Pipkin

Should you shake hands when introducing yourself? Do you need to ask to be seated? How might you answer the prompt, “Tell me about yourself?” Many high schoolers, college students and even young adults ask these questions and more before nervously walking into their first job interview. In fact, most feel unprepared. The National FFA Organization created a Leadership Development Event (LDE) to combat this stress and give FFA members the tools needed to walk in with confidence.

“The Employment Skills contest is the perfect preparation for real world job interviews and placement,” says Jessica Connelly, superintendent for the state Employment Skills LDE the past several years. “It’s designed to walk students through an application, interview and selection process. It’s one of the most practical professional development experiences available to students.”

Brooke Kreatz, a Chillicothe agricultural education instructor and FFA advisor, agrees the LDE equips students for their first job interview experience.

“Employment Skills prepares students for the process of applying for a job,” she says. “They have to be able to fill out a job application, prepare a cover letter and resume, as well as request and get a letter of recommendation in a timely manner. The overall mission is to produce a capable, contributing future employee through practicing these employment skills.”

As a human resources professional, Connelly encourages FFA members to exercise these skills in preparation for the future.

“Students can never be too prepared for what awaits them after walking the halls of their high school,” she says. “Whether it’s college, junior college, tech school or the work force, this LDE helps every student practice for the future.”

This preparation starts in high school through extracurricular activities like FFA, something Kreatz knows the impact of firsthand.

“Students who are involved in extracurricular activities are more confident and feel more comfortable when in front of future employers,” Kreatz says. “Marketing yourself is an important skill to have. The process of applying for a job can be stressful. If you already have the skills needed to go through the process it can ease that stress. I know from my own experiences that competing in LDEs and CDEs gave me an upper hand when interviewing because I knew what to expect, and I was able to walk in my interview rooms with confidence.”

In addition to confidence gained in extracurricular activities, employment skills are something all students benefit from learning.

“As part of the Agricultural Business Curriculum sponsored by FCS Financial, we are able to teach all students these skills in the classroom,” Kreatz says. “I am a firm believer that all students need to learn employment skills and build confidence, and this curriculum does just that. Students can learn so much from each other and it is important that they get a chance to interview in front of their peers.”

Connelly adds practice in and out of the classroom are critical in preparing for a future career.

“At some point, every student will experience the job interview and selection process,” Connelly says. “I always find myself performing best in those environments if I practice before. This contest is the practice and feedback to help all students perform well themselves.”

by Brandelyn Twellman