Iowa FFA Leadership Development Events

What Iowa FFA Leadership Development Events Are

Leadership development events, or LDEs, are contests in public speaking, meetings, interviews, communication and chapter work. They are separate from career development events, which test technical skill in an agricultural career. Iowa has more than 20,500 FFA members in 273 chapters, per Radio Iowa, and the state leadership conference is where many LDE winners are named.

LDE List

A chapter site, Lenox FFA, lists these 20 Iowa LDEs:

• Speaking: Public Speaking, Extemporaneous Speaking, FFA Creed Speaking, Ag Discussion Meet
• Meetings: Conduct of Meetings, Parliamentary Procedure
• Communication and careers: Ag Broadcasting, Job Interview, Ag Sales
• Chapter work: Chapter Program, Chapter Activity Exhibit, Chapter Website, Reporter's Scrapbook, Secretary's Book, Treasurer's Book, Experience the Action
• Issues and learning: Ag Issues and Perceptions, Ag Impact, Ag CSI, Greenhand Quiz

Not every chapter enters every event, so ask your advisor which ones apply.

Event Formats

A chapter contest page describes several formats:

• Prepared Public Speaking: an individual writes and delivers a 6 to 8 minute speech on a current agriculture topic, scored on content, composition and delivery.
• Extemporaneous Public Speaking: choose 1 of 3 topics drawn from 18, prepare for 30 minutes, give a 4 to 6 minute speech, then take questions.
• Creed Speaking: grades 7 to 9 recite the FFA Creed from memory and answer three related questions.
• Job Interview: a cover letter, resume, application, phone interview, in-person interview, networking activity and a phone job offer to negotiate.
• Parliamentary Procedure: a team of 5 or 6 conducts an orderly meeting, judged on debate and motions.
• Ag Broadcasting: a five-minute radio broadcast, including a 28 to 30 second fictitious-product commercial, with time penalties.
• Ag Sales: sell an agricultural product to a judge role-playing a customer.

Middle school members have their own events. Ag CSI and Ag Impact are middle school team events (4 to 6 members) and stop at district and state, per the same page. Ag Impact asks for a 4-page typed research paper and a 10 to 12 minute presentation on agriculture in Iowa.

Chapter Program: A Closer Look

The Chapter Program event has teams present the chapter's year, January 1 through December 31 of the prior year, to a formal adult audience such as a school board or Farm Bureau meeting. Per the Lenox page:

• Teams of 1 to 2 active members plus an optional media equipment specialist.
• Setup is 10 minutes, the presentation is 12 minutes, and judges ask questions for 5 minutes. Teams lose 0.1 point per second over the time limits.
• A typed Summarized Report of Accomplishments of no more than four pages is required, and the presentation must follow the report's order.
• The content order is Growing Leaders, Building Communities and Strengthening Agriculture.
• Sub-District judges pick two teams for District, District judges pick two for State, and State judges rank the top three.

Sub-District, District and State

Most LDEs move through sub-district, district and state levels, while Ag Issues and Perceptions also goes to national, per the contest page above. One chapter calendar shows when these fall: sub-district conference on the first Wednesday in February, district conference on the first Saturday in March, and state convention in mid-April, per Carroll Area FFA. Dates vary by district and year, so confirm with your advisor.

The State Leadership Conference

The 98th Iowa FFA State Leadership Conference was April 19 to 21, 2026 at Hilton Coliseum on the Iowa State campus in Ames, per Algona FFA. Radio Iowa reported about 40 competitions, including public speaking and job interviews, along with workshops led by industry partners and out-of-state FFA officers. The conference also includes a business session where delegates vote on the next state officer team, plus a career and college fair.

How Iowa Members Have Done

At the 2026 state conference, La Porte-Dysart's Jill Hanson was Job Interview state champion and planned to compete nationally the next fall, and Bailey Brown earned a silver rating in Ag Broadcasting, per the North Tama Telegraph. At the October 2025 national convention in Indianapolis, Montezuma FFA placed 11th in Conduct of Meetings, per the Southeast Iowa Union.

Choosing an Event

• Shy speakers can start with Creed Speaking or a team event like Parliamentary Procedure.
• Writers and organizers fit Chapter Program, Secretary's Book or Reporter's Scrapbook.
• Confident talkers can try Extemporaneous Speaking or Ag Sales.
• First-year high school members can take the Greenhand Quiz.

Preparing

• Practice out loud, in front of your advisor and family, with a timer.
• For team events, practice the same order every time and rehearse with a parliamentary procedure handbook.
• For Job Interview, build the cover letter and resume well before the deadline.
• Ask your advisor for past rating sheets so you know how judges score.

Frequently Asked Questions

Guide checked Nov. 11, 2026. Rules and dates change; confirm with the organizer.