The National FFA Organization elected its new leadership team for the next year during the recent national convention. Thaddeus Bergscheider of Franklin, Illinois, was elected as the new President. He talks about his family background in agriculture.

“I was raised on a corn, soybean row-crop operation, and then we also have 200 head of cattle. Like I said, a small town, but I mean, my school was really, really small. I graduated with 14 kids in my graduating class, and my family is nine people, with me and my six siblings, my mom, and my dad. So, my family was about as big as my graduating class in high school, but as part of this big family, I was always just rooted in agriculture.”

Growing up on a farm and being around agriculture has made him passionate about the topic.

“I found my interest in policy and finance within these agriculture spaces. I also love business. So, I love conversations about where businesses are heading and the future of agriculture. I mean, I listen to podcasts three and four-hour podcasts on businesses, their business models, and what they’re doing. I want to go to the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting with my dad, this May, hopefully. That is where I’m at, and that’s why I’m so excited to be here, to share my love with agriculture and share how agriculture comprises all of us and all of our talents, all of our skills.”

Bergscheider talks about his beginnings in FFA.

“I’ll be honest. I didn’t want to join FFA at first. I told my dad when we were going to meet my guidance counselor for freshman classes that I didn’t want to join an ag class because I didn’t know if I wanted to be in FFA. The moment they got me into FFA was when my advisor made me do the Creed. When I started memorizing the FFA Creed, I felt so much power in the words. And as you read those words, you feel the emphasis and the power of what you’re doing, and as a freshman, I realized I was a part of something way bigger than myself.”

Image courtesy RFD-TV