Farm Fest is a three day event that is held at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, Springfield, Missouri, that FFA (Future Farmers of America) members take a field trip to every year.
Cole Johnston, FFA advisor and agriculture teacher at Fair Grove, explained, “There are live animals with many livestock producers, selling privately during the event, equipment demonstrations, and speakers from various sectors of agriculture giving detailed information and education on agricultural procedures.”
The Farm Fest event is essentially a large trade show with a plethora of businesses, companies, and individuals that represent different areas of the agriculture industry. This could include livestock equipment, machinery, tools, and other goods and services offered/used in the agriculture industry.
To decide who gets to go on the Farm Fest field trip, FFA members must earn points by attending different events throughout the beginning of the year. These events include the FFA tailgate, selling raffle tickets, and working parking lot shifts during the Fair Grove Fall Festival. This year the top 75 students on the point list will get to attend the field trip.
Farm Fest provides a way for FFA members to get involved in FFA events by providing an incentive for the points that they earn. Farm Fest is also a way to teach students about different agriculture opportunities they might have in the future, like colleges and jobs.
Makayla Piotrowski, newest addition to the Fair Grove Agriculture Department, said, “I have gone every year to Farm Fest every year at Mount Vernon as well as several years before that when I was in college. I love Farm Fest because there are vendors from every area of agriculture to talk with as well as tons of equipment and products to see.”
Students also have the opportunity to walk around Farm Fest with their friends and have experiences they might not have gotten to have at school. They can meet other FFA members from different schools and visit with the vendors of Farm Fest.
Johnston said, “My personal part of Farm fest is seeing the large number of FFA students there at the event on Friday every year. It is neat to me to see hundreds of FFA members walking around and interacting and making connections in the agriculture world.” He continued, “I also enjoy the fact that I get to visit with people that I consider friends in the industry and spend a lot of time looking through the livestock. ”
Farm Fest is an event that brings FFA members together and helps them to make connections in the agricultural world that they might one day be a part of. Cinch Dowling, FFA secretary added, “Farm Fest is super fun and has something for everyone. You’ll have a blast with friends, try cool food, and see animals up close—definitely worth going!”
Hali Stokes • Oct 2, 2025 at 9:37 am
Solid piece of writing HANNAH!