Walk through the bustling concourses of the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis this week, and you’ll witness a sea of blue corduroy jackets—more than 70,000 strong! While the National FFA Convention & Expo is often celebrated for showcasing top-tier livestock exhibitors, soil judges, and ag mechanics whizzes, one room in downtown Indianapolis is putting a very different, highly strategic skillset to the test.
Representing the Hoosier State in the Parliamentary Procedure Leadership Development Event (LDE) this week is a seasoned team from North Miami FFA. Composed of dedicated members—including recent North Miami High School graduates Hannah Early and Karter Floor—the team is competing on the national stage to prove that effective governance, rapid problem-solving, and parliamentary law are just as vital to agriculture’s future as agronomy and animal husbandry.
The stakes are high. Participants who complete the multi-phase competition—encompassing a written exam, a live team presentation, oral questions, a team problem-solving practicum, and an individual minutes practicum—become eligible for membership in the prestigious American Institute of Parliamentarians. They’ll find out how they rank nationally during the official awards presentation on Friday night.
A Four-Year Pursuit of Precision
For team members Hannah Early and Karter Floor, arriving at the national convention as high school graduates isn’t a stroke of luck—it’s the culmination of many years spent buried in Robert’s Rules of Order.
“Yeah, it’s definitely a lot of preparation that goes into this, and most of us have been doing it for our full four years of high school,” says Hannah Early, who graduated last spring, works at Logansport Savings Bank in Peru, and is studying ag business online through the University of Arkansas. “So, it’s really not just this year, but we’ve been practicing for this for pretty much four years.”
The commitment required to master the complex handbook of parliamentary law requires discipline that rivals any varsity sport.
“A lot of studying of Robert’s Rules of Order—and a lot of test questions and practicing meetings and coming up with good debates,” explains Karter Floor, a recent graduate who has stepped directly into full-time farming.
Floor notes that the path from state competition back in June to the national stage required stepping up their game significantly.
“State in Indiana we have seven members, where national we’re down to six now,” Floor says. “We have a couple new motions we got to learn, and we didn’t have the site, the book—we have to find stuff in the book and cite it down, we didn’t have that before, so we had to practice that. Otherwise, just polish some stuff up in the meeting and get better at test questions.”
Managing those practice schedules wasn’t easy once high school diplomas were in hand, but the group prioritized their pursuit.
“We’ve been trying to meet at least once a week or every two weeks to just stay fresh and like remember what we need to do in the meeting,” Early notes. “There’s definitely been a lot of scheduling because a lot of us have graduated, and even the ones in high school are still busy. So just trying to make time that we can still get those practices in.”
Real-World Leadership Beyond Crops and Livestock
While parliamentary procedure might sound like an academic exercise, both Floor and Early emphasize that the skills learned in the competition floor carry immediate, real-world returns.
For Floor, who balances row-crop production with serving his local community on the volunteer fire department, the practical application of running structured meetings became clear almost immediately.
“I think it’s important just because it’s showing you real-life stuff more than just crops and stuff like you said,” Floor says. “Like, you can go out and run for a government job with using parliamentary procedures, and it’s taught me a lot of good public speaking.”
Floor credits his former ag teacher and advisor, Jim Wildermuth, for recognizing his knack for quick thinking early on.
“Mr. Wildermuth back my freshman year knew I liked to talk and I could just come up with stuff on the spot, so he’s like, ‘You’re the man for the job,’” Floor recalls with a smile. That tap on the shoulder blossomed into years of personal growth. “It teaches you good leadership—not to be scared. People are going to look up to you if you have success, so just keep pushing.”
For Early, who served as chapter president and district vice president during her high school career, FFA and parliamentary procedure helped build a foundation of confidence she didn’t know she had.
“Being part of this team, I’ve learned a lot about leadership and public speaking, especially through the parliamentary procedures contest,” Early reflects. “We’ve just learned how to like express our ideas and get those across properly.”
When asked what advice she would offer younger students or junior high members sitting on the fence about joining FFA, Early emphasizes the breadth of opportunities available.
“I would definitely tell them to join,” Early urges. “Even if you’re not sure if you’ll like it, it never hurts to try it out. And there’s so many different parts of FFA that you don’t have to like every single part, but there’s usually one thing that you can join in and find some sort of enjoyment in.”
The Final Gavel
As Friday night approaches, the North Miami team is preparing for a mixture of nervous anticipation and bittersweet reflection. Win or lose, the journey has left a lasting mark on their personal and professional paths.
“I’d definitely say yeah, it’s one less thing on the schedule, but I also think it’ll be kind of sad because we have been doing this for four years and this is kind of the end of it for those of us that have graduated,” Early says.
Regardless of where the national judges place North Miami on Friday night, Floor and Early embody the core mission of agricultural education: turning dedicated rural youth into articulate, confident, and capable leaders ready to serve their communities and the agricultural industry for decades to come.
CLICK BELOW for Hoosier Ag Today’s radio news report:
Hoosier Ag Today’s coverage of the 99th National FFA Convention & Expo is presented by Nutrien. They’re proud to support the next generation of agricultural leaders and wish all FFA members a successful convention. Stop by Booth #630 or visit Nutrien.com to learn more.
