More than 200 judges from throughout the U.S. recently met virtually to determine which FFA members will compete for top honors in the 2026 National FFA Agriscience Fair.
Ella Capistran of the Crookston FFA Chapter has been named a national finalist this year in the Food Products and Processing Systems category in Division 1 of the competition.
The National FFA Agriscience Fair is a key competition that is part of the annual National FFA Convention & Expo, October 21-24, 2026, in Indianapolis. To qualify, FFA members working as individuals or teams in grades 7 through 12 are required to conduct a scientific research project pertaining to the agriculture or food science industries and win their state’s FFA agriscience fair.
Individuals or teams compete in one of six categories – animal systems; environmental services/natural resource systems; food products and processing systems; plant systems; power, structural and technical systems; or social science – in six divisions – individuals in grades 7-8, teams grades 7-8, individuals grades 9-10, teams grades 9-10, individuals in grades 11-12, and teams grades 11-12.
First-place winners in each state qualified for the national pre-qualifying judging. The panel of judges reviewed entries and selected a maximum of 10 in each category and division to move on to the next stage of national competition.
The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 1,053,847 student members as part of 9,591 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
