FFA members and their families exhibiting at the 2022 Minnesota State Fair will have special activities to attend.

FFA and fair staffs are organizing events for the final weekend of the state fair to celebrate 75 years of FFA shows.

The celebratory kickoff begins 7 p.m. Sept. 2 with a program highlighting FFA’s history and recognizing the FFA Legends from 1948 to today. Proclamations and greetings will be offered by several invited dignitaries, including Gov. Tim Walz and agricultural commissioner Thom Petersen. The program will be held on Judson Avenue between the Swine Barn and Compeer Arena.

Starting at 6 p.m. Sept. 3, a full program will recognize past Baldwin Award winners and stories, Legacy FFA show families, Legacy FFA Chapters, FFA advisors, competition department staff, and show staff and assistant superintendents. This program will be held at the Christensen Farms Stage outside the Miracle of Birth Center.

“We are very proud of the fact that the Minnesota State Fair hosts the largest FFA show in the nation,” says T.J. Brown, FFA superintendent at the state fair. More than 5,500 FFA chapters since 1948 have participated at the state fair, averaging more than 100 chapters annually since 2002.

Consistently high attendance is a testament to the hundreds of families, FFA advisors and state fair staff who have dedicated their lives to helping FFA youth show their projects and develop the leadership skills for which FFA alumni are known, Brown adds.

Baldwin Award highlight

The Minnesota State Fair’s highest FFA honor, the Douglas K. Baldwin Award, will be announced the morning of Sept. 5 at the annual FFA awards program, which includes the Parade of Champions and premier chapter awards.

Baldwin served as general manager of the state fair and was a strong advocate for the FFA show initiated in 1948. During his 12-year tenure, FFA activities significantly expanded. Known for his professional integrity, commitment, cooperation and courtesy, a trophy named in Baldwin’s honor is presented annually to a FFA member who best exhibits those characteristics, along with documented leadership, sportsmanship, citizenship, respect for others and unselfish assistance to fellow exhibitors and staff members.

One FFA family has earned the Baldwin Award three times over the last three decades. In 1989, Gail (Irrthum) Donkers received the Baldwin Award. At the time, Donkers was a 21-year-old University of Minnesota student and a member of the Wanamingo FFA chapter.

“Showing livestock at the FFA show at the Minnesota State Fair was a huge part of my life, and for our entire family,” Donkers recalls. “My brother and I usually showed 10 to 15 dairy cattle and 40-plus head of sheep at the FFA show. It wasn't something that we did for just four days of the year. It was a year-round project. We started working on next year’s show the day after we got home from the fair.”

Receiving the Baldwin Award was a huge honor, Donkers says, and offered many memories.

“Looking back, it was a very hard year,” she says. “I had lost my best friend and sheep crony Katie Hickman to cancer, and to honor her, I prepared her sheep for the show and exhibited them at the fair. There is an award in her honor, the Katie Hickman Rookie Award, that is presented to a first-year breeding sheep exhibitor.”

Showing sheep at the fair is different from other livestock shown. Generally, two animals are shown per exhibitor in each class.

“To show two animals in a class, you need to get to know the other kids that are also exhibiting sheep, and work together to get all of the sheep through the ring,” Donkers says. “In those days, we had two rings of breeding sheep showing at the same time. We often had sheep in both rings, which took a lot of friends. To this day, some of my dearest friends are the kids that I showed sheep with at the FFA show.”

The award’s legacy also deeply impacted Donkers’ family. Two of her children, Abby and Riley, also won the award — in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

“As parents, Jim and I could think of no greater honor than to have our kids win the Baldwin Award,” she says. “We started our family sheep project so that our kids could have a project of their own.  We wanted them to have a project that would help prepare them to eventually take over the farm.”

With the sheep project, the young Donkerses bought their own animals and feed; made breeding, showing and culling decisions; and did most of their own chores. After their FFA careers ended, the sheep didn’t go away. The family still exhibits Babydoll and Dorset sheep at major shows and sales around the Midwest.

“Abby and I volunteer at the All-American Junior Show, a national show that moves around the country,” Donkers adds. “Riley does custom fitting and showing at state and national shows, and recently judged several breeds at the Midwest Stud Ram Show and Sale in Missouri, and the National Rambouillet Show in Missouri as well.”

For more information on the FFA at the state fair and the Baldwin Award, visit  mnstatefair.org.

75 years of FFA State Fair history

Here’s a look back at FFA involvement at the Minnesota State Fair, compiled by FFA superintendent T.J. Brown: