How Virginia FFA Career Development Events Work
Career development events, or CDEs, are contests where FFA members show practical agriculture skills such as judging livestock, identifying crops, running a small engine or analyzing a farm business. Virginia FFA is based at Virginia Tech, and it lists its contests on the CDE and LDE page. Note that Virginia lists career and leadership events together and does not label each one, so this guide covers the skills-and-knowledge contests; speaking and meeting events are in the leadership guide. All contests follow the 2026 Virginia FFA Competitive Event Guide, a policy approved and updated in May 2026.
State Convention Contests
The 100th Virginia FFA State Convention was held June 8 to 11, 2026, at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, per the convention page. The contests listed for convention include:
- Ag Technology and Mechanical Systems, Agricultural Communications, Agricultural Sales and Agronomy
- Dairy Evaluation, Livestock Evaluation and Veterinary Science
- Environmental and Natural Resources, Farm Business Management, Marketing Plan and Employment Skills
- Floriculture, Nursery/Landscape, Turf Management and Food Science
- Milk Quality and Products, Hippology and Horse Evaluation
- Avian Bowl, Agriscience Fair, Scrapbook and Talent
Middle school contests are separate and include Agriscience Mechanics, Food and Fiber, Plant Science, Small Animal Care and Quiz Bowl. The 2026 convention schedule put exams such as Food Science, Vet Science and Ag Sales on Monday, June 8, Livestock and Marketing Plan on Tuesday, June 9, and Dairy Evaluation and Farm Business Management on Wednesday, June 10, with multi-day events like Floriculture and Agronomy spread across two days. Senior and junior Ag Mechanics were scheduled at Pulaski County High School.
Registration for the 2026 convention, including all contest materials, was due May 15, 2026, and contests are managed through Judging Card. A contest-only registration for one day cost $30, per the convention page. Competitors who attend more than one day should choose a full registration option.
Stand-Alone and State Fair Events
Several CDEs happen away from convention. The CDE and LDE page lists these stand-alone events:
- Meats Evaluation, early spring
- Forestry, April
- Poultry Evaluation, April
- Horse Evaluation, spring (Equismartz)
- Tractor Operators, April at the Virginia Beef Expo
- Dairy Handlers, August
- Soils and Land Judging, November
- Dairy Cattle Evaluation and Cattle Working, with timing not listed
- Grasslands Evaluation, new for spring 2027
The events calendar also shows the State Skill-a-Thon at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds, Block and Bridle contests at Virginia Tech in February and Virginia FFA's September Big E contest in West Springfield, Massachusetts.
The State Fair of Virginia hosts more FFA contests, each marked FFA-only or 4-H/FFA on the CDE page: Career Applications in Horticulture, Small Engine Troubleshooting, Tractor Troubleshooting, Student Garden, Forestry Field Day, Horticulture Demonstration, Agriscience Demonstration and Poster, Crops, Hippology, Junior Dairyman's, Junior Forester's, Junior Livestock Skillathon, Lawn Tractor Operators and Tire Art. The 2026 State Fair ran September 25 to October 4 at The Meadow Event Park in Doswell.
Who Can Compete
The competitive event guide sets these rules:
- Participants must be current, dues-paying members at the local, state and national levels and listed on the chapter roster. Unlisted participants pay a $35 processing fee plus dues.
- While in school, participants must be enrolled in an agricultural education course or following a planned course of study, and must maintain an SAE.
- The senior division is grades 9 to 12, and graduating seniors remain eligible for the next convention.
- The junior division is grades 6 to 9, and the middle school division is grades 6 to 8.
- National eligibility follows the National FFA membership year, August 1 to July 31. In events without separate divisions, every team member must be eligible, and a team with a 6th grader cannot qualify for a National FFA Convention event.
- Joint 4-H/FFA events may use age instead of grade. National Land Judging, for example, requires contestants to be at least 14 on the contest date.
Team size is set by each event's own rules, so check the handbook for your contest. Every competitor needs a signed Student/Parent Agreement and Emergency Waiver completed in AET.
Qualifying for National Events
Virginia's policy has specific rules for advancing:
- At State Convention check-in, each chapter must declare which one national-qualifying event it will accept advancement in if members win several. The declaration is binding.
- An individual member may qualify for only one national CDE or LDE per year.
- Members who win a stand-alone national-qualifying event outside State Convention cannot qualify for any other national competition.
- Members who have represented Virginia nationally in an event cannot compete in that same event again.
Scoring, Penalties and Conduct
Scores are verified by at least two people before announcement, and results are available through JudgingCard or other official means. Ties are broken per the event handbook, then by the first missed question on the written exam, then rubric scores and finally a coin flip. Late written entries take a 10 percent penalty, and entries more than seven days past the postmark deadline may be disqualified. Disqualification can follow unauthorized communication, outside help, unauthorized electronic devices, unsafe conduct or late arrival, and advisors may not communicate with participants during an event unless they hold an assigned official role.
How to Prepare
- Read your event's national handbook, linked from the CDE and LDE page, and the Virginia guide.
- Ask your advisor which contests your chapter will enter and who handles Judging Card and AET.
- Request accommodations early. The CDE page says at least three weeks before the contest, and the policy says 14 days, so use the longer window.
- Practice with past practicums and rubrics where posted, such as those for Career Applications in Horticulture.
The Virginia FFA office lists 540-231-3823. Dates and rules change each year, so confirm with your advisor.
Guide checked Nov. 11, 2026. Rules and dates change; confirm with the organizer.