News

FFA president from area where rural and urban connect

The National FFA president says she’s from an area of California where rural and urban connect.

Breanna Holbert describes herself as an urban girl with an urban background growing up in the northern section of the San Joaquin Valley.

“I had no idea I was from an agricultural area.  I got into FFA (and) wasn’t super-active at first, but my adviser was like ‘Girl you’re going to get into this and you’re going to love it!’  And I was like ‘Ok crazy lady.’  I ended up doing a public speaking contest that blew me away.”

Speaking to Brownfield in St. Paul Tuesday while spending National FFA Week in Minnesota, Holbert says that experience changed her life.

“Through my FFA journey I’ve served on numerous officer teams on the chapter, state, and also national level.  I get to do different public speaking events such as prepared public speaking and creed.  I did a lot of floriculture and horticulture which led me to my sustainable agriculture pathway.”

Holbert plans to become an urban agriculture educator after graduating from California State University-Chico where she majors in agricultural science and education.