Prior to the 2023 National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, had the chance to visit with Oklahoma’s FFA Creed contestant, Corbin Robbins of the Chattanooga FFA Chapter, about the competition.
When asked what inspired him to become involved in the FFA Creed contest, Robbins said his biggest motivator was a family tradition.
“My grandpa and my grandma were in FFA, my parents and my uncle were very competitive in it, so it was kind of bred into me,” Robbins said. “It was something I have always strove to do, and I am very excited to go to Indianapolis and compete for Oklahoma.”
When Robbins recites the creed, he said he enjoys feeling the passion that the author, E.M. Tiffany, had when writing it.
“I come from a fifth-generation farm and ranch, and every time I say the creed, I feel it inside of me,” Robbins said. “It is something I am very passionate about, and I know that FFA is passionate about.”
That passion for the FFA and agriculture, Robins said, increases each time he says the FFA Creed. In an ever-changing world, as innovations in agriculture increase, Robbins said he believes the FFA Creed still holds true.
“The creed is still relevant,” Robbins said. “It talks about the passion that farmers still have; it talks about the bad times and the good times…”
Robbins also recited the FFA Creed, as it reads below:
I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words but of deeds – achievements won by the present and past generations of agriculturists; in the promise of better days through better ways, even as the better things we now enjoy have come to us from the struggles of former years.
I believe that to live and work on a good farm, or to be engaged in other agricultural pursuits, is pleasant as well as challenging; for I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those associations which, even in hours of discouragement, I cannot deny.
I believe in leadership from ourselves and respect from others. I believe in my own ability to work efficiently and think clearly, with such knowledge and skill as I can secure, and in the ability of progressive agriculturists to serve our own and the public interest in producing and marketing the product of our toil.
I believe in less dependence on begging and more power in bargaining; in the life abundant and enough honest wealth to help make it so–for others as well as myself; in less need for charity and more of it when needed; in being happy myself and playing square with those whose happiness depends upon me.
I believe that American agriculture can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life and that I can exert an influence in my home and community which will stand solid for my part in that inspiring task.
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