Immersed in agriculture

Jay Meyer’s family moved to their Burnt Fork ranch east of Stevensville when they were displaced by Canyon Ferry Reservoir in the 1950s. Jay attended Stevensville School from the 4th grade on, and joined FFA in 1966. When he graduated from Stevensville High School in 1970, he was president of the FFA Chapter and earned the FFA State Farmer Degree that year. Last month, fifty-two years later, he was awarded the Honorary American FFA Degree, the highest degree an individual can receive. He accepted the award in October at the 95th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana before a crowd of nearly 70,000.

FFA is a school-based national youth leadership development organization. The FFA mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. FFA is the extra-curricular component of agriculture education.

The Honorary Degree “recognizes those who have gone beyond valuable daily contributions to make an extraordinary long-term difference in the lives of students, inspiring confidence in a new generation of agriculturists.”

Jay has spent his entire life immersed in agriculture. He still raises hay and cattle on the family ranch. He also taught 4th grade at Stevensville School for 25 years. While teaching there, he started the annual 4th Grade Farm Fair, a day when his students could get a hands-on experience of what agriculture is, where our food comes from, and how it all happens. The Farm Fair has been an annual event for 30 years and was expanded to include all the 4th grade classes in Ravalli County. He and Colleen, his wife of 45 years, raised three children who were very involved in FFA and 4-H, each graduating from MSU College of Agriculture and pursuing careers in agriculture. Ben, who lives on the home place with his family, is the Western States Relations Administrator for National FFA. John previously taught Agriculture Education and FFA and is currently a grain merchant with Alliance Grain in Illinois, where he and his family live. Mary has been an Extension Agent specializing in 4-H youth and currently owns Diamond D Ranch Insurance here in Montana. 

More recently, Jay served on the local FFA Advisory Board and helped start Chapters in Victor, Corvallis and Florence. He served on the board of directors with the MSU College of Agriculture Foundation. Since 2009, he continues to serve on the board with the Montana FFA Foundation, which raises money for scholarships. He is a member of the Ravalli County Right to Farm and Ranch Board and continues with the MSU Western Agriculture Research Advisory Council. He is chair of the Burnt Fork Water Commission. The Meyers are also active in the Montana Farm Bureau, Ravalli County Farm Bureau, and the Bitter Stock Growers Association.

In reflecting on the importance of programs like FFA, Jay said that FFA provides a special place for certain kids who need it. Kids find circles of interest 

– sports, music, drama, speech and debate – and FFA is no different. “They become involved in the curriculum and the camaraderie, surrounded by people that think like they do.”

High school kids are needy,” said Colleen. “They need a place to hang out. It seems evident that schools that have an ag curriculum and then the extra-curricular component [FFA] work really well.”

Jay said his kids were totally immersed in FFA. All of them were Chapter officers and became State officers, representing all the chapters in the state. Each of them earned the American Farmer Degree. He said the opportunities this provides are “immense.”

“The leadership skills taught in both organizations [FFA and 4-H] are incredible,” said Colleen. 

“My appreciation of these programs is really boosted by that,” said Jay. 

Jay also likes that the FFA is structured so that upper class students can mentor the younger kids. The different age levels don’t compete against each other, unlike in sports. “Mentoring is a really big part of FFA,” he said. “What sometimes appear to be unlikely students can often excel in FFA.”

Jay likened the challenges of FFA to track and field. “It’s a personal challenge that students set for themselves and no others,” said Jay. “And they can go as far as they want.”

Jay said there are 109 chapters in the state, with 6000 members statewide. He is especially proud of his work in helping to start chapters in Victor and Corvallis, and now Florence. He said he talked to people he personally knew, administrators, school board members, and promoted the program wherever he could. He said that FFA is no longer an acronym and doesn’t stand for “Future Farmers of America.” That was dropped because FFA is so much more than that, and has benefits for students no matter where they live – rural, suburban, even urban – or what aspect of agriculture they are interested in. Now it’s just FFA. Period.

“The ag ed curriculum is so broad,” said Jay, “and has such great opportunities, such as science, business and technology. It’s no longer just ‘cows, sows, and plows.’ Everything has changed.”

The Meyers’ granddaughter is in 8th grade at Stevensville, and participates in the FFA program. With two ag teachers, the school is now able to offer Ag Ed and FFA programs in the middle school. They are very pleased to see that happening.

“I’ve heard from some former students that they would never have graduated if it hadn’t been for FFA,” said Jay. “That’s the connection that got them through.”