The Golden Owl Award is an annual recognition honoring agricultural educators across Iowa for their contributions to helping develop the next generation of ag leaders. Students, fellow teachers and other supporters can nominate their favorite ag teacher and summarize what makes him or her one of the best in the state.

The Golden Owl Award is presented by Nationwide Insurance and the Iowa FFA Foundation. Nominees have an opportunity to win cash prizes and the distinction of being Iowa’s Agricultural Educator of the Year. Prizes include:

“This is the second year for this award to be presented, as it recognizes the hard work our ag education instructors put in above and beyond the call of duty,” says Joshua Remington, executive director of the Iowa FFA Foundation.

Nominations for the 2019-20 Golden Owl Award in Iowa are due Nov. 16. Teachers eligible for nominations include middle school and high school ag educators, as well as college-level professors teaching ag courses. Students, faculty and community members can nominate their ag instructors by going to GoldenOwlAward.com.

National FFA with record membership

FFA is answering the need for more highly skilled graduates to fill job openings in the field of agriculture, and nowhere is this more evident than in the organization's growing membership. The Iowa FFA Association has over 15,600 student members as part of 242 local FFA chapters across Iowa.

The National FFA Organization recently announced a record-high membership of 700,170 students, up from 669,989 in 2018. The top six student membership states are Texas, California, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio and Missouri. Interest in FFA and ag education continues to grow as membership continues to increase.

This year, the national organization has more than 100,000 Latino members. Females hold more than 50% of the leadership positions. FFA chapters can be found in 24 of the 25 largest U.S. cities.

“FFA is providing future leaders, and our membership growth reflects continued enthusiasm for agriculture as well as agricultural education,” says Mark Poeschl, National FFA Organization CEO. “FFA prepares our student members for careers in agriculture while working to ensure the security of our country's food, fiber and natural resources systems for years to come. Through real-world experiences, agriculture educators are helping students develop the technical knowledge, skills and problem-solving capabilities to be the industry's leaders of tomorrow.”

The National FFA Organization provides leadership, personal growth and career success training through ag education to more than 700,000 student members who belong to one of the more than 8,600 local FFA chapters throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The organization is also supported by more than 8 million alumni and supporters throughout the United States.

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