Jessica Henderson
Where Are They Now? | August 2025 | By Samantha Henderson
Meet Jessica Henderson,
An Alumni Member from the Manila FFA Chapter who has a strong passion for agriculture. She especially enjoys working with youth in agriculture and setting them up for success.
Jessica grew up on her grandparent’s ranch. She was involved in 4-H and found that FFA offered even more agricultural opportunities, plus she enjoyed the competitions and conventions!
While in FFA Jessica participated in Meats Evaluation, Land Judging, and Floriculture. Jessica’s grandpa was a butcher, and he would butcher a beef for her family every year. Jessica remembers, she “would sit for hours and watch him break down the carcass. When it came time to wrap, I was the designated taper.” The meats contest allowed her to expand her knowledge of the butcher industry. In Land Judging, Jessica learned what good soil looks and feels like. This is a skill she continues to use today. Jessica’s mom was a big influence on her trying the Floriculture CDE. Jessica grew up watching her mom grow produce for three families on the ranch. Along with the produce, her mom would grow beautiful flowers. Her mom entered flowers and produce at their county fair and won many rosettes. Jessica says her mom “taught many things about plants that books couldn’t” and because of this Jessica attended college focusing on horticulture.
Jessica attended Utah State University, “GO AGGIES”. One of Jessica’s goals was to attend college without going into debt. She accomplished this goal by working summers and winter breaks at the soda ash refinery making baking soda and laundry detergent. In 2013 she graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Horticulture.
While attending USU, Jessica was set up on a blind date with an “Idaho farm boy” and in 2013 they tied the knot! From 2014-2018 Jessica was the production manager for a grower/retail greenhouse in Virgina, Idaho. In 2018 they started their family and ever since her title has been “stay-at-home farm mom”. They now have three kiddos who love farm life!
Jessica and her husband are the 5th generation to live and work on the family farm in Swan Lake, Idaho. They have a 100 cow/calf operation, 60 sow operation, a pasture-raised meat chicken business, and a butcher business. They love working together on the farm and in the butcher shop. Jessica says the unofficial Henderson farm motto is, “the best way to raise kids is tired”. She also says the best thing to be put in tractors was the buddy seat!
Jessica remembers memorizing the FFA Creed and how she thought she had a pretty good idea of what it meant. She had watched her grandparents and parents pursue their agricultural dreams. She thought she knew the “joys and discomforts of agricultural life”, but it wasn’t until she had “skin in the game” that she realized how dead on the Creed is! Jessica says, “I am grateful for my experience in FFA and for a great FFA advisor, Mr. Schell. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t use the knowledge that I gained from FFA. FFA helped steer me in the direction of getting a college horticulture degree and my FFA knowledge helps me every time I’m in our butcher shop.”
Jessica and her husband have a passion for growing youth involvement in agriculture. As 4-H and FFA alumnus, they see the continued value of these programs. Therefore, they have dedicated their time and effort in advocating for youth involvement in these agricultural opportunities. For example, while attending their county fair in 2015, they noted significantly fewer 4-H and FFA market animal projects than in past years. This was disheartening, so they began exploring why this was the case. They concluded that although youth wanted to be involved, the cost of buying and raising a show animal for fair was too great for many in their rural area. As county Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers chairs, they explored possible solutions and settled on creating a scholarship. In 2016, they launched a 4-H and FFA market animal scholarship funded by the Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers program. The first year six youth participated. This past year, 22 youth participated ranging from young 4-Hers to seasoned FFA students. Jessica and her husband have seen this scholarship provide financial support for youth to purchase and raise market animals for fair and it has fostered youth professional development. Jessica and her husband are excited to see how they can continue supporting and encouraging youth in agriculture and the 4-H/FFA programs.
When asked what advice she’d give to someone thinking about joining FFA Jessica said, “Do it! Even if you haven’t grown up on a farm or ranch. You may find you like an aspect of agriculture you wouldn’t have experienced otherwise. I double dog dare you to give FFA a try! (Yes, that is what we said in the 1990s!) Give FFA a shot, what do you have to lose?”
