FFA chapter tends a classic North-South FFA exchange
- Mon Feb 24, 5:31AM UTC
prairiebusinessmagazine.com

LITCHFIELD, Minn. — FFA is about learning a rural and agricultural culture, and two “sister cities” in Minnesota and Alabama have taken that to an unusual level.

For nearly five...

Jaxon Hess, 17, a junior at Hartford (Ala.) High School and an FFA member, on Feb. 16 holds a sugar cookie in the shape of the state of Minnesota. An Alabama-Minnesota FFA exchange was his first trip on a plane, first significant travel, and first experience with snow or frozen lakes. Mikkel Pates / Forum News Service
Rob Cole, Litchfield High School ag instructor and FFA adviser for 14 years, and said the Peanut Butter and Milk Festival exchange program with Alabama is one of the highlights of the school career for many of his FFA members. Mikkel Pates / Forum News Service
This year’s FFA Peanut Butter and Milk Festival delegation from Alabama toured dairy-related attractions, but also cultural icons, including the Twine Ball Museum, which features the 13-foot-tall “Largest Ball of Twine Made by One Man,” as recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. Mikkel Pates / Forum News Service
Terri Anderson, a Litchfield, Minn., certified public accountant, for 12 years has been the chairwoman of the Peanut Butter and Milk Sister City Exchange. Mikkel Pates / Forum News Service
Alabama guests give a thumbs-up after taking a ride Feb. 16 on the Meeker County Sheriff’s Department airboat rescue vehicle, which is used both in summer and winter. It is part of the annual Peanut Butter and Milk Festival and FFA exchange. Mikkel Pates / Forum News Service
Maddie Kelm, left, an FFA member and senior at Litchfield (Minn.) High School, takes a bundled-up Skyler Brannon, of Hartford, Ala., on a snowmobile ride near Litchfield on Feb. 16, the second day of a weeklong Peanut Butter and Milk Festival exchange. Mikkel Pates / Forum News Service
Bruce Cottington, right, started the exchange between Minnesota and Alabama FFA chapters. He is shown here with Glenda Weston, president of the Hartford, Ala., Sister Cities Program. Contributed photo
The first Peanut Butter and Milk button sold in 1980 and designed by Jim Turck, an FFA student. Photo courtesy of Terri Anderson
Bruce, Florence, Jim and John Cottington on their first trip to Alabama in 1971. Photo courtesy of Terri Anderson