It may just be an article of clothing, but the navy blue jacket means so much more to students who wear them.

Once a Future Farmers of America member puts on their navy blue jacket, proudly embroidered with the FFA crest and their high school’s name, they become a young adult. The jacket also represents their passion for agriculture and the poise it takes to become an agricultural professional.

The 87th Iowa FFA Leadership Conference began Sunday, April 19 and ended Tuesday, April 21. The Conference took place at various locations on Iowa State’s campus, including the Farm Bureau Pavilion in Kildee Hall, Hilton Coliseum and the Jeff and Deb Hansen Agricultural Student Learning Center.

Mackenzie Johanningmeier, freshman at Waukon High School, said she enjoys FFA and the State Conference because she gets to help people, work with agriculture and meet new people.

The main goal of the conference is to have students learn about careers in the agriculture industry, compete for scholarships, volunteer in the community and shape the future of the Iowa FFA Association, according to the Iowa FFA website.

More than 5,000 students could take tours of the campus led by faculty to learn more about Iowa State, participate in career development events and listen to speakers.

The speakers were Will Keim and Kyle Scheele. Both are motivational speakers who seek to inspire their audiences.

“I really like listening to the keynote speakers because I get something out of them like what they say, the leadership skills; a lot of it’s the same but it’s all at the same time different too,” said Nolan Webster, senior at New Hampton High School.

Through the various activities, students get to learn skills that will be helpful in their futures.

“The whole FFA program in general is super beneficial and is exciting for them to come and share and compete and get rewarded for all the work that they have been doing,” said Bailey Miller, senior in agricultural communication.

The event was organized by Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Iowa FFA Foundation, along with other volunteers.

The CALS ambassadors also played a huge part in organizing the event and making sure everything ran smoothly through coordinating tours, planning the barbeque and just helping wherever help was needed, Miller said.

The event began with a service project for Meals from the Heartland at Hilton Coliseum and ended with a general session where members can reflect on their short but impactful trip.

Johanningmeier and Webster said their favorite part of the conference was meeting new people and making new friends.

While the FFA members were having fun meeting new people, they are also networking and making connections that could provide benefits in the future.

“They’re going to run into [other members] when they’re in college, they’re going to run into them when they’re in industry, so it’s a great networking opportunity. As we know, it’s about who you know, not what you know most of the time,” said Jacob Bowers, agriculture teacher and FFA adviser at Pella Community Schools.

With more than 5,000 high school students attending this conference, they had the chance to make a vast amount of connections they will always have common ground as FFA members.