Ag Communications

About

Participants in the Agricultural Communications Career Development Event (CDE) work as a team of communication consultants to develop a written media plan, present the plan to a panel of judges, and, as individuals, apply what they have learned during practicums, a quiz and editing exercise.

This team CDE challenges students to communicate effectively while advocating to consumers about agriculture and telling the FFA story. Students will use a variety of media in their plans—social media, broadcast and print advertising, press releases, fliers, brochures, blogging, displays and more.

Communication, collaboration, creativity and presentation skills are important to event success. Students also learn a variety of technical skills such as journalistic and opinion writing, website design, video production, social media and more.

State Finals

The MN FFA Ag Communications CDE will be held in conjunction with the UMN Winter Invitational event. In academic year 22-23, the event is scheduled to be held entirely virtual during the week of February 27 - March 3, 2023 by the University of Minnesota - St. Paul campus.

The Ag Communications CDE is really fun and a great way for students interested in Agricultural Communication & Marketing to get early exposure to professionals, undergraduates in our ACM major, and work in this area. The UMN ACM faculty are available to answer any questions and share resources. Please feel free to contact the ACM faculty with questions: Dr. Rebecca Swenson, Dr. Troy McKay, Dr. Garrett Steede.)

Register

To register, email Dr. Garrett Steede.

Event Details

Please note that National FFA is changing the format for this event and new/updated rules and format will be available after October 2022.

At the state level, this CDE has teams of 4 and is made up of two parts - a series of practicum activities and a set of communication-related quizzes. At the national contest, a media plan and media plan presentation are added. The team that wins the state contest will have the UMN ACM faculty as a resource as they work to develop their media plan and develop their presentation for the national contest. The media plan WILL NOT be a part of the state contest and will only be required of the winning team who goes on to compete at the national Agricultural Communications CDE.

Practicums

This CDE has teams of 4 (one Web Designer, one Video Producer, one Journalistic Writer, and one Opinion Writer.) The day of the contest, each team member will participate in a practicum activity and take the quizzes. [No media plan requirement at the state level.]

Practicum Scenarios

All students will watch a pre-recorded press conference the day of the event. Then, the materials listed below will be created by members of your team based upon information shared during the press conference. Students should not create these items ahead of time.

A. Web design - Develop a WordPress site

B. Video producer - Create a 60-90 second video

C. Journalistic writers - Write a news story
D. Opinion writers - Write an op-ed (500-750 words)

After the practicum, students will complete two quizzes as individuals.

QUIZZES (completed individually)

A. Editing Exercise

B. Communications Quiz

The Ag Com CDE is really fun and a great way for students interested in Agricultural Communication & Marketing to get early exposure to professionals, undergraduates in our ACM major, and work in this area. They really don’t need much preparation to participate. We will be posting additional resources for you to share with students, once you register for the event. However, you can find many practice materials at umnagricast.com. (Click on K-12 resources). Even though we are removing the media plan from our state contest, our faculty team will offer individual attention and support to the winning state CDE team, as they prepare for the national contest.