Career Development Events
Agricultural Communications
In this CDE, the members of the agricultural communications team represent graphic designers, web designers, news release and news writers, and broadcasters. This team of “experts” has an opportunity to attend a press conference and put together a communications proposal and presentation to explain how you would publicize an event or issue.
Agricultural Issues Forum
The community and the agriculture industry need citizens with a voice. This CDE challenges the team o present a topic of local interest or concern. Not only does the team get to be creative in putting together your presentation but they also get first-hand experience by making the presentation locally before competing.
Agricultural Mechanics
If you are the fix-it person who friends neighbors turn to when heir lawnmowers, tractors, motorcycles, cars, or moped breaks down, hen this CDE might be just the event for you. Through a team activity, hands-on problem-solving project and written exam, you and your teammates are tested on your knowledge of a broad range of systems related to agricultural mechanics, from machinery and equipment systems to environmental/natural resource systems.
Agricultural Sales
Sales are the key to taking a product from the producer to the consumer while providing a profit to the producer. Like a team of sales professionals, your team is given a sales situation and a short amount of time to develop the necessary strategies to sell the product; then each team member conducts a sales call to a panel of judges.
Agriscience Research
The Agriscience Research Career Development Event allows participants to use the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom in a competitive setting. Qualified teams will conduct a complete research project based on local needs, present the results of their local research project, critique a completed research project report and demonstrate their research skills and knowledge by completing and individual exam. This program encourages students to apply the research skills from their classrooms in a critical thinking and teamwork atmosphere.
Agronomy
Agronomists are the crop doctors that producers rely on to help them produce high-yielding, healthy crops. Through this CDE, you and your teammates will be agronomists for a day. Given a scenario of an agronomy situation, your team will develop an oral presentation and a written plan that address the situation. Individual team members will determine crop quality and identify various weeds, crop plants, seeds and soils with insects, plant diseases, nutrient deficienceies or disorders.
Dairy Cattle Evaluation
Whether you want to be a dairy farmer, herd manager or geneticist-or if you just like working with dairy cows- this CDE puts our team’s knowledge of dairy cattle type, production records and herd management to the test. Like a herd manager, you will be appraising pedigrees and herd records, doing management exercises, and evaluating live dairy cattle and defending your decisions orally.
Dairy Foods
This event gives you and your teammates the opportunity to practice the skills necessary for quality control, milk marketing and management of mastitis. You will also be put to the test in identifying cheese characteristics and milk defects. You and your team will have the opportunity to judge the acceptability of raw milk and present the results to judges.
Environmental and Natural Resources
Agriculturalist are the guardians of many of our world’s natural resources. Like forest rangers, geologist, marine biologists, ecologists or environmental researchers, you and your teammates are asked to develop written and oral presentations to solve a scenario that deals with an environmental or natural resource problem. These scenarios cover topics ranging from soils and water to ecosystems and waste management. Individually you are asked to demonstrate your knowledge through a written exam and one of the three practicums.
Farm Business Management
Today’s successful agricultural operations are managed like the sophisticated businesses they are. Through this CDE, you and your teammates solve a business problem and take a written test on business principles. During this activity, your team is judged on your use of business management and economic principles, analysis of farm records and management resources, and consideration give to risk management practices.
Floriculture
If you have ever thought of owning our own florist shop or managing a floral department- or if you just love to work with flowers- then the floriculture CDE is where you want to be. This event allows you and your teammates to work on a project together-such as making floral decorations for an event, demonstrating the use of horticulture precuts or designing on location. Your creativity and deign ability are tested when you are asked to complete flower arrangement on your own. This CDE stretches your problem-solving and decision-making skills as well as your knowledge of plant materials.
Food Science and Technology
Just like a professional product development team, you and your teammates will be asked to evaluate a marketing scenario describing a need for a new or redesigned product; you will then develop or redesign this product. As a group, you will be evaluated on your understanding of the concepts of product formulation, package design, nutritional label development and implementation of quality control. Your individual customer service and quality-control abilities will be tested during the individual practicums.
Forestry
It takes many skills to manage a forest or be involved in today’s forestry industry. If you enjoy the outdoors and want to learn more about effectively managing a forest and its resources, this CDE is for you. You and your team are expected to recognize environmental and social factors affecting the management of forests; identify major species of trees that are of economic importance in the U.S. and internationally; identify hand tools and equipment and their uses; be able to recognize and understand approved silvicultural practices in the U.S.; be able to identify forest disorders and their causes; take forestry inventory; utilize marketing management strategies; and recognize safety practices in forest management.
Horse Evaluation
Where you consider yourself an avid horsemen, a cowboy- or if you just love working with horses- participating in this CDE gives you a new insight into equine. Your team is tested on everything from your ability to problem-solve industry scenarios dealing with nutrition, management, reproduction, and marketing to identification of breeds, tack/equipment, feed and the horse anatomy. You then become the judge and defend your decision through oral reasons.
Livestock Evaluation
The market and breeding quality of livestock determines their value to producers, packers and eventually consumers. Understanding what makes a good market or breeding sheep, beef or swine is valuable knowledge for the decisions every livestock producer has to make. During livestock evaluation, you and your teammates will rank breeding and market classes of beef, sheep, and swine. And as in other evaluation CDE’s, you will give oral reasons to back up your decisions. Your team will work with an agricultural business that serves your local community to decide on a product or service for which you will develop a marketing plan. Like every business owner, your team will perform all of the steps necessary to market this product or service, including developing a written marketing plane, analyzing this plan, making a business proposition, setting up strategies and an action plan, projecting a budget and evaluating your progress. You will then present this plan to a panel of judges.
Meats Evaluation and Technology
So what makes a good steak so mouthwatering? And what makes a good lamb chop or pork chop delicious? These questions will be answered as you delve into the science of meat. As you learn to compare carcasses, retail cuts and wholesale cuts of meat, you will learn to see meat through the eyes of a USDA inspector. When you participate in this CDE, the meat counter will never be a mystery to you again!
Nursery/Landscape
Every time you see new construction or development, there is anew opportunity for your community’s nursery and/or landscape centers and businesses. This CDE tests the knowledge that you and your team have about every angle of this industry- from identifying plant materials, plant disorders, supplies and equipment to your ability to demonstrate best practices in design and construction. You and your team will also have the opportunity to show off your skills in the hands-on problem-solving activity.
Poultry Evaluation
What came first, the chicken or the egg? Ask an FFA member participating in the poultry evaluation CDE. These members select live meat-type chickens for broiler breeding, they evaluate and place live egg-type hens, and they rate the finished product by evaluating and grading ready-to-cook carcasses and pats of chickens and turkeys.
Agricultural Communications
In this CDE, the members of the agricultural communications team represent graphic designers, web designers, news release and news writers, and broadcasters. This team of “experts” has an opportunity to attend a press conference and put together a communications proposal and presentation to explain how you would publicize an event or issue.
Agricultural Issues Forum
The community and the agriculture industry need citizens with a voice. This CDE challenges the team o present a topic of local interest or concern. Not only does the team get to be creative in putting together your presentation but they also get first-hand experience by making the presentation locally before competing.
Agricultural Mechanics
If you are the fix-it person who friends neighbors turn to when heir lawnmowers, tractors, motorcycles, cars, or moped breaks down, hen this CDE might be just the event for you. Through a team activity, hands-on problem-solving project and written exam, you and your teammates are tested on your knowledge of a broad range of systems related to agricultural mechanics, from machinery and equipment systems to environmental/natural resource systems.
Agricultural Sales
Sales are the key to taking a product from the producer to the consumer while providing a profit to the producer. Like a team of sales professionals, your team is given a sales situation and a short amount of time to develop the necessary strategies to sell the product; then each team member conducts a sales call to a panel of judges.
Agriscience Research
The Agriscience Research Career Development Event allows participants to use the knowledge and skills learned in the classroom in a competitive setting. Qualified teams will conduct a complete research project based on local needs, present the results of their local research project, critique a completed research project report and demonstrate their research skills and knowledge by completing and individual exam. This program encourages students to apply the research skills from their classrooms in a critical thinking and teamwork atmosphere.
Agronomy
Agronomists are the crop doctors that producers rely on to help them produce high-yielding, healthy crops. Through this CDE, you and your teammates will be agronomists for a day. Given a scenario of an agronomy situation, your team will develop an oral presentation and a written plan that address the situation. Individual team members will determine crop quality and identify various weeds, crop plants, seeds and soils with insects, plant diseases, nutrient deficienceies or disorders.
Dairy Cattle Evaluation
Whether you want to be a dairy farmer, herd manager or geneticist-or if you just like working with dairy cows- this CDE puts our team’s knowledge of dairy cattle type, production records and herd management to the test. Like a herd manager, you will be appraising pedigrees and herd records, doing management exercises, and evaluating live dairy cattle and defending your decisions orally.
Dairy Foods
This event gives you and your teammates the opportunity to practice the skills necessary for quality control, milk marketing and management of mastitis. You will also be put to the test in identifying cheese characteristics and milk defects. You and your team will have the opportunity to judge the acceptability of raw milk and present the results to judges.
Environmental and Natural Resources
Agriculturalist are the guardians of many of our world’s natural resources. Like forest rangers, geologist, marine biologists, ecologists or environmental researchers, you and your teammates are asked to develop written and oral presentations to solve a scenario that deals with an environmental or natural resource problem. These scenarios cover topics ranging from soils and water to ecosystems and waste management. Individually you are asked to demonstrate your knowledge through a written exam and one of the three practicums.
Farm Business Management
Today’s successful agricultural operations are managed like the sophisticated businesses they are. Through this CDE, you and your teammates solve a business problem and take a written test on business principles. During this activity, your team is judged on your use of business management and economic principles, analysis of farm records and management resources, and consideration give to risk management practices.
Floriculture
If you have ever thought of owning our own florist shop or managing a floral department- or if you just love to work with flowers- then the floriculture CDE is where you want to be. This event allows you and your teammates to work on a project together-such as making floral decorations for an event, demonstrating the use of horticulture precuts or designing on location. Your creativity and deign ability are tested when you are asked to complete flower arrangement on your own. This CDE stretches your problem-solving and decision-making skills as well as your knowledge of plant materials.
Food Science and Technology
Just like a professional product development team, you and your teammates will be asked to evaluate a marketing scenario describing a need for a new or redesigned product; you will then develop or redesign this product. As a group, you will be evaluated on your understanding of the concepts of product formulation, package design, nutritional label development and implementation of quality control. Your individual customer service and quality-control abilities will be tested during the individual practicums.
Forestry
It takes many skills to manage a forest or be involved in today’s forestry industry. If you enjoy the outdoors and want to learn more about effectively managing a forest and its resources, this CDE is for you. You and your team are expected to recognize environmental and social factors affecting the management of forests; identify major species of trees that are of economic importance in the U.S. and internationally; identify hand tools and equipment and their uses; be able to recognize and understand approved silvicultural practices in the U.S.; be able to identify forest disorders and their causes; take forestry inventory; utilize marketing management strategies; and recognize safety practices in forest management.
Horse Evaluation
Where you consider yourself an avid horsemen, a cowboy- or if you just love working with horses- participating in this CDE gives you a new insight into equine. Your team is tested on everything from your ability to problem-solve industry scenarios dealing with nutrition, management, reproduction, and marketing to identification of breeds, tack/equipment, feed and the horse anatomy. You then become the judge and defend your decision through oral reasons.
Livestock Evaluation
The market and breeding quality of livestock determines their value to producers, packers and eventually consumers. Understanding what makes a good market or breeding sheep, beef or swine is valuable knowledge for the decisions every livestock producer has to make. During livestock evaluation, you and your teammates will rank breeding and market classes of beef, sheep, and swine. And as in other evaluation CDE’s, you will give oral reasons to back up your decisions. Your team will work with an agricultural business that serves your local community to decide on a product or service for which you will develop a marketing plan. Like every business owner, your team will perform all of the steps necessary to market this product or service, including developing a written marketing plane, analyzing this plan, making a business proposition, setting up strategies and an action plan, projecting a budget and evaluating your progress. You will then present this plan to a panel of judges.
Meats Evaluation and Technology
So what makes a good steak so mouthwatering? And what makes a good lamb chop or pork chop delicious? These questions will be answered as you delve into the science of meat. As you learn to compare carcasses, retail cuts and wholesale cuts of meat, you will learn to see meat through the eyes of a USDA inspector. When you participate in this CDE, the meat counter will never be a mystery to you again!
Nursery/Landscape
Every time you see new construction or development, there is anew opportunity for your community’s nursery and/or landscape centers and businesses. This CDE tests the knowledge that you and your team have about every angle of this industry- from identifying plant materials, plant disorders, supplies and equipment to your ability to demonstrate best practices in design and construction. You and your team will also have the opportunity to show off your skills in the hands-on problem-solving activity.
Poultry Evaluation
What came first, the chicken or the egg? Ask an FFA member participating in the poultry evaluation CDE. These members select live meat-type chickens for broiler breeding, they evaluate and place live egg-type hens, and they rate the finished product by evaluating and grading ready-to-cook carcasses and pats of chickens and turkeys.