Since 2002, the Roundhouse Foundation has supported organizations and programs serving Oregon’s rural communities. Rural and remote counties continue to experience higher unemployment and many young people feel left behind. Programs like Oregon FFA provide critical mentorship, career and agrarian education, and hands-on training that help rural students build viable futures in their home communities.
Why Oregon FFA Matters in Rural Oregon
A cornerstone of Oregon FFA is the student-led project: a work-based learning experience that builds career skills, entrepreneurship, and real-world experience in areas such as livestock management, farming, science, and agribusiness. These projects connect classroom learning to practical outcomes and prepare students for family-wage careers.
Oregon FFA also strengthens rural communities through service. Members complete up to 50 hours of independent community volunteer work. With record participation statewide, Oregon FFA students contribute tens of thousands of service hours each year.
Participating students further amplify other rural and agricultural support efforts. When the OSU Extension Service launched the AgriStress Helpline for agricultural workers in crisis, Oregon FFA officers led a statewide public service campaign to reduce mental health stigma for the most vulnerable populations and to encourage those in need to seek help.
“It’s inspiring to see these young leaders stepping up to talk about mental health,” said Oregon FFA Chief Executive Officer, Kjer Kizer. “They want to help other generations, their parents, grandparents, and neighbors open up about their struggles too.”
At a time when a majority of rural youth nationally report that they do not believe they can find a good job in their home communities, Oregon FFA training helps ensure this state’s rural and remote towns remain places where young people can live, work, and thrive.
“Not everybody’s cut out for college,” said Daniel Bolen, agricultural science and technology instructor for Elgin’s Junior and Senior High School. “There are great, family-wage jobs in the trades that make even more money than I do.” To get these kinds of careers started, students don’t need formal education, just training—exactly the kind of thing the local school and their FFA chapter will provide with opportunities such as the in-progress Building Agricultural Resources Network (BARN) facility.
Who Participates in Oregon FFA
Current state funding supports more than 15,000 students across 123 chapters in Oregon. Participation is roughly equal among young men and women and includes students from a wide range of income levels, including many from non-farming families. The training they receive would be difficult for them to obtain elsewhere. In many rural areas with limited extracurricular options, Oregon FFA is a primary pathway to leadership development, scholarships, and postsecondary opportunities.
“I wouldn’t be where I’m at today without FFA,” noted Uriel Aguilar Torres, a former FFA state sentinel who is studying to become an agribusiness owner at Oregon Institute of Technology.
Don’t Leave Rural Oregon Youth Behind
State support for Oregon FFA has demonstrated long-term benefits for the youth and workforce. Oregon FFA prepares the next generation with leadership skills and career skills that provide rural Oregonians a pathway to stay and work in their communities.
“Supporting young people with opportunities to make an impact on what is important to them in their own communities helps grow the next generation of community builders,” says Erin Borla, Executive Director of the Roundhouse Foundation.
The Roundhouse Foundation joins thousands of individual supporters and organizations such as the Oregon Agriculture Teacher’s Association and the Oregon Farm Bureau, supporting Oregon FFA and other programs that strengthen Oregon’s youth and rural communities.
“FFA has a long-standing tradition of developing young leaders throughout communities across Oregon and the country,” Borla said. “We are looking forward to hearing about the solutions that come from these FFA members and how they are implemented in their communities.”
