INDIANAPOLIS — Gerry Reichard of Waynesboro was one of five members of Pennsylvania FFA (Future Farmers of America) who received the Honorary American FFA degree. Awarded Oct. 23 during the 99th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, the degree represents the highest honorary degree bestowed by the National FFA Organization to recognize dedicated service to agricultural education and the development of future generations of FFA members.
“I am extremely delighted to be recognized with the degree, and honored that I was nominated by both the Pennsylvania FFA and Pennsylvania FFA Foundation,” said Reichard, who made the journey to Indianapolis with his wife, Teresa, son, Brett, and granddaughter, Della.
Total registration at the convention held at Lucas Oil Stadium was over 71,000 people, according to Reichard. “It tells you that the youth FFA is strong across the country. And in Pennsylvania, the number of members is growing each year – we’re adding chapters every year.
“Not every child comes from a farm, but because the agricultural industry is so vast, there is a demand for qualified candidates for open positions in the industry — research, selling seeds and animal sciences, etc. Twenty percent of jobs in this country are related to agriculture, and less than 2 percent of the population actually live and work on farms, feeding the U.S. and other people around the world. One farmer feeds 183 people. There are 1.9 million farms in the U.S. and 95 percent are operated by families,” Reichard added.
Since 2019, Reichard has been special adviser to the Friends of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Foundation Inc., Harrisburg. A former dairy farmer, he also has been president and is the owner, member and agent of Keystone Crop Insurance Services in Waynesboro since 2016. A 1980 graduate of Waynesboro Area Senior High School, he also earned a bachelor’s degree in animal husbandry from Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture, Doylestown, in 1985.
In 1983, Reichard received an American Farmer Degree as an FFA Member, and his father, the late Gerald W. Reichard (who died in 2016), received an Honorary American Farmer Degree. “I don’t know how frequently that happens — that father and son both receive the award. It’s such a unique recognition and honor. My award was based on my record keeping at the family farm — we raised pigs and I also constructed a swine facility as my FFA project.” Reichard added that his father was an “advocate for agricultural education and promoting the industry to lots of folks. An ag teacher for 38 years, including from 1971 to 1998 at Waynesboro Area Senior High School, my dad also was a dairy farmer and manager of the Franklin County Fair for 40 years.”
Reichard said son Brett and fellow Waynesboro Area Senior High School graduate Harrison Frantz, both of Waynesboro, are working to reinstate agricultural education at the high school. “Laine Hess, Waynesboro, a former fair queen whose family was involved in the FFA, also is a key person helping with that. At one time, we had one of the largest programs in the state. They had five ag teachers at the high school. It ended about two years after my dad retired.
“Our community has changed, but there are still a lot of rural areas and a lot of opportunities to be involved in agriculture in our community. I’m happy they are trying to get that going again,” Reichard said. Brett, who works at Boyer Nurseries and Orchards in Biglerville, and Harrison, a farm loan officer at Horizon Farm Credit, “didn’t have that opportunity,” he said.
“We’re very fortunate that Waynesboro was put on the map by George Frick and Peter Geiser, who built grain separators and steam engines, respectively, ‘two men who began their careers in manufacturing, eventually building companies that changed the world of agriculture,’” added Reichard, citing an article by Mike Rohrer in Farm Collector magazine. “Today,” said Reichard, “machines that got their start in Waynesboro are all over the country.”
