The New Farmers of America (NFA) was an American youth organization of African-American farm boys studying agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 in public schools throughout 18 states in the eastern and southern United States. The NFA started in 1927 in the state of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, and merged in 1965 with the Future Farmers of America organization. Until 1935, all NFA associations were known only by the name of each respective state.
In August 1935, representatives from all New Farmer state associations met in Tuskegee and formed the National Organization of New Farmers of
America with a tentative constitution and by-laws.

About NFA

The NFA was an organization designed to develop the qualities of leadership and citizenship of its members by allowing them to participate in conducting meetings, sharing in carrying out the program of activities of the chapter, and serving on committees. The organization afforded its members leadership opportunities essential for their success as modern farmers. These leadership abilities were developed through public speaking, judging, chapter contests, and from training received through the work of the chapter committees under the supervision of the local adviser.

Beginnings

The NFA started as a localized movement in Virginia around 1927. H.O. Sargent, Federal Agent for Agricultural Education, and G.W. Owens, Teacher-Trainer at Virginia State College

Virginia State University

Virginia State University is a historically black and land-grant university located north of the Appomattox River in Chesterfield, in the Richmond area. Founded on , Virginia State was the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher learning for black Americans...

, were two of the earliest proponents of an organization for African-American farm youth. While Owens wrote the constitution for the New Farmers of Virginia and helped lay the foundation for what would become a national organization, Sargent lobbied within the Department of Education

United States Department of Education

The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...

 to officially create an organization in segregated schools. As the idea grew in popularity, chapters formed sporadically throughout the southern states and region. State associations emerged next and then sectional associations based on proximity: Washington

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, Gulf (later called Sargent), and A-L-Tex-O (later called Almmot). These sections held conferences and contests unifying the state associations until a national organization was officially created on August 4, 1935.

Aim and Purpose

The specific purposes were as follows:

1. To develop competent, aggressive, agricultural and rural leadership.
2. To encourage intelligent choice of farming occupations.
3. To encourage members in the development of individual farming programs.
4. To encourage members to improve the home, the farm and surroundings.
5. To participate in worthy undertakings for the improvement of agriculture.
6. To practice and encourage thrift.
7. To develop character, train for useful citizenship, and foster patriotism.
8. To participate in a cooperative effort.
9. To provide and encourage the development of organized rural recreational activities.
10. To strengthen confidence of farm boys and young men in themselves and their work.
11. To encourage improvement in scholarship
12. To create and nurture a love of country life.

Creed

I believe in the dignity of farm work and that I shall prosper in proportion as I learn to put knowledge and skill into the occupations of farming.

I believe that the farm boy who learns to produce better crops and better livestock; who learns to improve and beautify his home surroundings will find joy and success in meeting the challenging situations as they arise in his daily living.

I believe that rural organizations should develop their leaders from within; that the boys in the rural communities should look forward to positions of leadership in the civic, social and public life surrounding them.

I believe that the life of service is the life that counts; that happiness endures to mankind when it comes from having helped lift the burdens of others.

I believe in the practice of cooperation in agriculture; that it will aid in bringing to the man lowest down a wealth of giving as well as receiving.

I believe that each farm boy bears the responsibility for finding and developing his talents to the end that the life of his people may thereby be enriched so that happiness and contentment will come to all.

Emblem

The NFA emblem was made up of five symbols:

1. plow representing tillage of the soil
2. owl representing wisdom
3. rising sun representing progress
4. open boll of cotton with two leaves attached to its base representing important economic agricultural interest of many members
5. American eagle with shield, arrows, and olive branch representing the wide scope of the organization.

External links

• Archives of the New Farmers of America
• Impact of the New Farmers of America (Dissertation)