Items in this listserv:

****NEW Information****

1. GROWMARK at the 2019 Farm Progress Show 

2. Country Financial at the 2019 Farm Progress Show

3. GROWMARK Foundation to Provide FFA Jackets

4. 2019 Farm Progress Show Competitive Soil Judging

5. AGCO Scholarships

6. Cardinals Tickets

1.  GROWMARK at the 2019 Farm Progress Show 

Heading to the Farm Progress Show this year? Stop by the FS tent to Check In to Cash In for FFA!  Students, alumni, supporters, and fans can cast a vote for their favorite FFA chapter in the state throughout the three days of the show. Each vote equals a $1.00 donation to Illinois Association FFA, up to $5,000!

That’s not all! The five chapters with the most votes at the end of the show will each receive a $1,000 donation from the GROWMARK Foundation!

Encourage anyone you know heading to the show to stop by and vote!

2.  Country Financial at the 2019 Farm Progress Show

Visit us and vote!  Stop by our booth (#749) at the Farm Progress Show and vote for your favorite Illinois ag program.

We’ll proudly donate:

• $10,000 to the organization with the most votes

• $5,000 to both remaining organizations

https://www.countryfinancial.com/en/landing/il-farm-progress-show.html

3.  GROWMARK Foundation to Provide FFA Jackets

In April 2019, Mike Builta, a GROWMARK vice president and long-time employee, passed away unexpectedly. To honor his memory, the GROWMARK Foundation will be providing 100 FFA jackets to FFA members in Illinois. 

Twenty-five jackets will be provided each year over the next four years. FFA members are asked to answer the question “What does the FFA jacket mean to you?” and share the main goal they wish to accomplish as an FFA member. The application is available at www.bit.ly/BuiltaJacket and is due September 30 at midnight. 

Builta was raised on a family farm near Bellflower, Illinois. He was an active FFA member and lifelong supporter of agricultural education. He held GROWMARK System management roles at Christian County Farmers Supply Company in Taylorville, Illinois and GRAINCO FS in Ottawa, Illinois, before becoming 

GROWMARK vice president of Energy and Logistics in 2018. 

The GROWMARK Foundation was formally incorporated in 2005 and supports 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organizations. The Foundation is focused on programs and activities which support: the vitality of the industry of agriculture; agriculture education and consumer understanding of agriculture's contributions to society and the economy; agricultural leadership development; and education about the benefits of the cooperative way of doing business. The GROWMARK System has been involved in a variety of philanthropic efforts, including youth and young leader education and development and scholarships, for decades.

Contact: Karen Jones, kjones@growmark.com, 309-557-6184

4.  2019 Farm Progress Show Competitive Soil Judging

***  The registration deadline has been extended to August 21.

The 2019 Farm Progress Show will host a competitive soil judging contest for Illinois and Indiana FFA chapters at its show site near Decatur, IL. The contest will be held Tuesday, August 27, the first day of the show. The 2019 show dates are August 27, 28 and 29. FFA chapter advisors should pre-register their teams with the form posted on the show website, FarmProgressShow.com. Deadline for team registration is now Aug. 21. The show will utilize the new Illinois Soil Judging format. 

Send registrations to ndbowman@illinois.edu

5.  AGCO Scholarships

Since 2012, AGCO has generously partnered with the National FFA Foundation to provide over $400,000 in grants and scholarships to local level FFA members and chapters.

Each year, FFA chapters are encouraged to reach out to their local AGCO dealer to see if they might be interested in funding a chapter grant or individual scholarship in their community.  AGCO dealers can choose to either fund one or more $1,000 scholarships and/or one or more $800 chapter grants for local FFA chapters.

The cost to the local AGCO dealer for either a grant or a scholarship is $500.  The corporate level of AGCO picks up the remaining balance so that the student receives a full $1,000 scholarship or your chapter receives an $800 grant.  The local AGCO dealer gets to take credit for the full scholarship or grant even though their contribution is only part of the full award. 

For each chapter grant awarded by a local AGCO dealer, a portion of the donation also goes to the state FFA foundation.

Chapter grants are awarded during National FFA week while scholarships are awarded in the late spring as part of the National FFA Organization student scholarship program.

AGCO is the parent company for a wide variety of premier ag equipment brands including:

• Challenger

• Fendt

• GSI

• Massey Ferguson

• Valtra

• AGCO Power

• Fella

• FUSE

• Gleaner

• Sunflower

• RoGator

• TerraGator

• White

• Willmar

Find the dealer sign up form at: https://www.ffa.org/dealer-agco

Find your local AGCO dealer at: http://www.agcocorp.com/find-a-dealer.html

**** PREVIOUS Information Shared****

**** WORTH Sharing Again****

Career and Leadership Development Events:

IAVAT:

Illinois FFA:

FFA Board Updates

• Click here to view the listserv message sent by the FFA Center.  

Illinois FFA Alumni:

Illinois FFA Center:

• September 2 - Illinois FFA Center CLOSED - Labor Day

• October 2 - Illinois FFA Center CLOSED - Office Clean Up  Day

• November 11 - Illinois FFA Center - CLOSED - Veterans Day

• November 13 - Illinois FFA Center CLOSED - Staff Retreat

• November 28 - 29 - Illinois FFA Center CLOSED - Thanksgiving 

• December 24 - January 1 - Illinois FFA Center CLOSED - Winter Break and Holidays

Illinois Foundation FFA:

2018 - 2019 Illinois Foundation FFA Report 

• Click here to view the latest Foundation report

Industry Friends of agricultural education posts:

National FFA:

***DATES & DEADLINES - Remember***

• August 8 -  18 - Illinois FFA Officers Team Coordinating the Barnyard at the Illinois State Fair

• August 20 - 22 - Major State FFA Officers at the GROWMARK Annual Meeting

• August 23 - Major State FFA Officers at DuQuoin State Fair Parade

• August 26 - Major State FFA Officers at DuQuoin State Fair Farmyard Follies

• August 27 - 29 - Illinois FFA Staff and Major State Officers at the Farm Progress Show

• September 2 - Illinois FFA Center CLOSED for Labor Day

• September 4 - District 3 STAR Conference, JWCC, Perry

• September 6 - District 1 STAR Conference, BHE, Kewanee

• September 9 - District 2 STAR Conference, JJC, Joliet

• September 11 - District 5 STAR Conference, SIUC, Carbondale

• September 13 - District 4 STAR Conference, Lake Land College, Mattoon

• September 14 - State Horse CDE, BHE, Kewanee

• September 16 - 20 - Chapter Visits

• September 19 - ELITE Conference

• September 23 - 27 - Chapter Visits

• September 28 - State Forestry CDE, SUIC, Carbondale

• September 29 -  Illinois FFA Day w/the Cardinals vs. Cubs, St. Louis

• September 30 - October 4 - Chapter Visits

• October 1 - FFA Rosters and Fees DUE to the Illinois FFA Center 

• October 1 - National Chapter Award - Chapter Strategic Plan DUE to the Illinois FFA Center 

• October 2 - Illinois FFA Center CLOSED for Office Clean Up  Day

• October 7 - 11 - Chapter Visits

• October 10 - 11 - IACCAI

• October 14 - 15 - BUILD Conference, Decatur Conference Center, Decatur

• October 22 - State Land Use CDE, BHE, Kewanee

• October 30 - November 2 - 92nd Annual National FFA Convention, Indianapolis, IN

• November 11 - Illinois FFA Center - CLOSED - Veterans Day

• November 11 - 15 - Chapter Visits

• November 13 - Illinois FFA Center CLOSED - Staff Retreat

• November 18 - 22 - Chapter Visits

• November 21 - 22 - Illinois PAS Conference, Lincoln Land CC, Springfield

• November 27 - Illinois FFA Center Administrative Council mtg, FFA Center, Springfield

• November 28 - 29 - Illinois FFA Center CLOSED

• December 2- 4 - Major State Officer Team Retreat w/Executive Staff

• December 6 - 10 - Major State Officers attend Illinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting and Conduct Business & Industry Visits

• December 14 - State Ag Sales, Agronomy, Diary Foods and Meats CDE, UIUC & Parkland, Champaign-Urbana

• December 24 - January 1 - Illinois FFA Center CLOSED for Winter Break and Holidays

• January 10 - Illinois FFA Board & IAVAT Board Joint Meeting

• January 11 - IAVAT Section Chairs Meeting, FFA Center, Springfield

• January 24 - 25 - Illinois FFA Alumni Annual Meeting & Auction, President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, Springfield