Nationally I’d like to send a big shout-out to a FFA team from Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, for their recent success. The Ag Issues Team from the Little Dutchmen Chapter at Annville-Cleona High School took their local and state winning presentation to the National FFA Convention competition this past October and came home in eighth place out of 35 teams. The team of four girls, all seniors, chose to present an unbiased overview of a current agricultural topic of extreme importance: farmland preservation! The team gathered information from Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation Program and American Farmland Trust and had a great coach; they also eschewed the typical overhead or PowerPoint presentation for something more creative.  Instead, the young women wrote an original skit about a girl who inherits her parents’ farm and must decide among several options, such as selling to a developer or preserving the farmland. From my perspective, they were destined to do well because they recognized a critically important challenge facing agriculture. It’s great to see a new generation take on the issue of farmland preservation. The National FFA Organization, dedicated to developing leadership potential, personal growth and career success through agricultural education, is celebrating National FFA Week this week. As a National FFA Organization alumni, I can tell you how valuable it was to be involved in a youth organization that gave me great experiences in different fields of agriculture and helped me set school and career goals. I’m proud to have been a member of the Tri-Valley FFA chapter in Illinois, to have served as the State FFA President, and later to have served as the chairman of the Illinois FFA Foundation Board of Trustees. I challenge all of us to do our part to help develop strong leaders for America's future. The next generation will need to help solve the many farm and food challenges we face—including the loss of our nation's farm and ranch land and the many other global issues of our time. Congratulations again to the Little Dutchmen’s Issues Team; all of us at AFT wish you continued success in the future! About the Author: Jon Scholl is President of American Farmland Trust. Prior to AFT, he served as Counselor to the Administrator for Agriculture Policy at the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Jon and his family operate a corn and soybean farm in McLean County, Illinois.