A meeting for the purpose of forming the California Association of the Future Farmers of America was held at Hotel Claremont, Oakland, October 26, 1928. This was prior to the National FFA Organization meeting of November 20, 1928, which was held at the Hotel Baltimore, Kansas City, Missouri. Following the National Convention, California received National Charter No. 4. Below is a short timeline of California FFA and Agriculture Education.
1800's
Agriculture College Program was at UC Berkeley
1903
Cal Poly SLO opened the first Voc-Ed High Schoo
1905
  • UC Davis became a vocational agriculture high school.
  • Bakersfield HS in Kern County was the first comprehensive high school to offer agriculture education.
1908
 GARDENA HIGH SCHOOL FORMED AN AGRICULTURE PROGRAM.
1909 
OXNARD AND IMPERIAL HIGH SCHOOLS STARTED AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS.
1911
25 schools began offering agricultural education.
1916
93 schools offered agricultural education.
1920
California Agricultural Teachers’ Association (CATA) was formed.
1922
Judging contests were initiated.
1923
California State Fair begins
1926
​First regional supervisor for agricultural education was hired and located at Fresno State Teachers’ College
1927
​Six regional supervisors were on staff
1928
​National Future Farmers of America was formed in Kansas City, Missouri
1929
​First State Convention held for the California Future Farmers of America
1934
State FFA Convention moved to Cal Poly SLO.
1939
187 chapters in the California FFA with 8,868 students enrolled in agriculture education.
1940
Cal Poly SLO became a four-year college.
1949
 Junior colleges were reimbursed by the Smith-Hughes Vocational Education Act
1951
210 high school programs in agricultural education.
1961
 230 high school programs in agricultural education.
1965
​Agriculture was defined as more than “farming”.
1969
​294 schools with agriculture programs accounting for 28,621 students First year girls were allowed to be FFA members.
1981
  • ​ 405 schools had agriculture programs accounting for 45,780 students.
  • CATA hired a full-time Executive Director – first in the country
1994
 After sixty years as Cal Poly, the State FFA Convention was relocated to Fresno
2005
California FFA surpassed Texas to become the largest State Association in FFA membership
2009
  • Career development events increased to 40
  • Proficiency award areas increased to 53
2014
​314 high schools had agricultural education programs which accounted for 76,451 students
2015
​Over 5,000 students will attend the State FFA Convention in Fresno