FFA Behind the Emblem: Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa

Ellan Fischer (front, from left), Ana Engen, Daire Evans, Surabhi Velez, Tia Nelson and Mhina Reed; (second row, from left) Reid Dickhof, Aiden Radermacher, Max Heieie, Parker Prentice, Mason Eckstein and Coby Schoumaker; (third row, from left) Louie Tensen, Ben Mastey, Harley Weber, Bennett Wurm, Kolton Schuler, Elliot Spanier and Logan Oeltjenbruns; (fourth row, from left) Carson Gilbert, Bree Thieschafer, Andrew Spanier, Hunter Laage, Ayden Kampsen, Jack Lundberg and Aiden Mueller; (back, from left) Daniel Tschida, Jared Tschida, Peyton Roelike, Gabriel Coners, Noah Welte and Eli Wold gather at the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa High School in Belgrade, Minnesota. The chapter has 150 members.

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FFA members hold lettuce that was gathered for the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa high school lunch in Belgrade, Minnesota. The FFA members produce enough lettuce to feed the high school each week.

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Posted Saturday, December 6, 2025 12:00 am

150 members
Belgrade, Minnesota
Stearns County

Tell us about your chapter. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa FFA is an intracurricular organization, meaning all students who take an agriculture class are FFA members, and we include FFA activities in class. We currently have 150 members, with students coming from all different backgrounds. This includes students whose families live in town, live or work on farms and own local businesses. Students from grades 7-12 can be members and participate at the chapter, regional and state levels.

How does your chapter volunteer in the community throughout the year? Our chapter volunteers in the community in multiple ways. First, we produce lettuce for our school kitchen in the hydroponic shed that the FFA manages and operates. We produce enough lettuce every week to feed the entire high school.

What fundraisers does your chapter do throughout the year? Which is the most successful? The fundraising at BBE is unique; all fundraisers are performed with the entire school to go in-to a fundraising account. The four fundraisers are softener salt sales, fruit sales, a golf event and the annual color fund run. The FFA helps sort and distribute the fruit when it arrives, which is the main part that we play in this fundraiser.

What are the biggest events of the year? Our biggest events of the year are FFA week and baby animal day. During FFA week, our chapter hosts turkey bowling and a milk drinking relay for students and an all-staff appreciation breakfast. For baby animal day, our FFA members bring animals to the elementary school and set up an educational petting zoo for the students. Animals include piglets, donkeys, sheep, goats, chicks, puppies and more. We also host an agricultural lesson for the fourth and fifth graders on baby animal day, with last year’s lesson focusing on the dairy industry and how milk gets from farm to table.

What is unique about your chapter? One thing that is unique about our chapter is that every student in an ag class is an FFA member on the local level. This means that the students can participate in local and regional events at no cost to them, which removes the financial barriers and encourages the students to try new things in the areas of leadership and agriculture.

When was your chapter founded and how has it evolved? The Belgrade-Brooten and Elrosa FFA Chapters merged in 1990 to form the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa chapter. Mr. Gary Rodgers had been the FFA advisor since the merger until he retired this May.