Oh, the places FFA can take you – including the White House

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins captured the attention of the agriculture community as the FFA alumna shared her pride in wearing the blue corduroy jacket. In honor of National FFA week, her FFA adviser, Gary Rosenbusch, talked to Agri-Pulse about the role he played in helping her eventually become the nation’s top agriculture official. 

“This is Mr. Gary Rosenbusch, who put up with a lot from this FFA-er,” Rollins said, introducing her former teacher with a smile during her introductory remarks before the Senate Agriculture Committee. 

“I've often said that the Future Farmers of America changed my life and put me on a course that, frankly, leads me to today,” Rollins added. “Mr. Rosenbusch was a big part of that.” 

Rollins' gratitude was returned in kind by Rosenbusch, who also was her high school agriculture teacher and attended her confirmation hearing. 

“I had to keep the tears wiped away several times,” Rosenbusch told Agri-Pulse. “It was very emotional.” 

Prior to being confirmed as agriculture secretary on Feb. 13, Rollins led the America First Policy Institute since its founding in 2021. She served as director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and assistant to the president for strategic initiatives during the first Trump administration. 

Rollins and Rosenbusch hail from the small farming community of Glen Rose, Texas. Rosenbusch recalls that Rollins – at the time a new Texas resident after a family move from Minnesota – instantly stood out in 8th grade as a star FFA recruit for her speaking abilities. He said “it was pretty evident she was going places.” 

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins in in her FFA official dress. Gary Rosenbusch sent this photo to Rollins when she was nominated to be Ag Secretary. Rollins went on to become one of 10 members of the 1990-1991 Texas FFA state officer team. All nine of her teammates, now insurance agents, farmers and agriculture educators, among other occupations, attended her confirmation hearing. 

Through the National FFA Organization’s three circle model, Rollins, along with all agriculture education students across the country, participated in FFA's structured curriculum: classroom agriculture education courses, career and leadership development contests and individual supervised agricultural experience (SAE) projects completed outside of the classroom. Each student chooses their own SAE, with many starting an entrepreneurial business, working an ag-related job or doing research.  

While a love for horses is what brought Rollins to join FFA, “we changed her mind real quick” as she saw the opportunities available to grow in the organization, Rosenbusch said. 

A natural public speaker, Rollins excelled in the farm broadcasting contest. Her team of three became state champions by preparing the best farm radio program discussing issues important to the agriculture community.

She also participated in the parliamentary procedure and quizbowl contests. 

“She had the voice. She had the presentation,” Rosenbusch said, recalling Rollins’ FFA involvement, which included a trip to the National FFA Convention. He made the nearly nine hour one-way road trip to Kansas City with Rollins and her mother, Helen Kerwin, so she could take part in the annual event connecting thousands of FFA members from across the nation. 

Outside of FFA, Rollins was active in cheerleading, University Interscholastic League speaking contests, softball and 4-H. Rosenbusch said much of her extra time was spent raising and showing livestock and, of course, riding her horse as often as possible. 

Brooke Rollins and Gary Rosenbusch on their roadtrip to National FFA Convention in Kansas City. 

On the morning of Saturday, Nov. 23, Rosenbusch was told that his former student was President Donald Trump's selection to be the next secretary of agriculture. 

“I texted her and of course told her congratulations. Sent a couple of old pictures,” he said. 

“And I told her one thing I have always told her: Remember where you came from,” Rosenbusch said. “I think she made that statement that day, and she definitely hasn't forgotten. She knows her roots.” 

In Rollins’ X post shortly after her nomination, she wrote, “Of all the incredible notes and well wishes and good lucks I have received over the last 24 hours, the one that perhaps means the most came from Gary Rosenbusch, my ag teacher at Glen Rose High School who changed my life forever.” 

“That just lit up social media,” said Travis Park, the National FFA adviser overseeing engagement of all 1,027,273 FFA members across 9,235 chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. “There were so many ag teachers and FFA members alike inspired by that example of Brooke’s leadership.” 

Comments instantly flooded in. “FFA changes lives!” “I believe in the future of agriculture.” “Proof that FFA can take you anywhere you want to go, even the White House!” one parent wrote on Facebook. 

Chloe Zittergruen, the Iowa FFA state secretary, says seeing “another female who wore the blue corduroy and was a state officer in that role is more empowering than ever.” Her small eastern Iowa hometown has a population of less than 250 people. 

Rollins’ leadership “goes to show that our blue corduroy jackets prepare us for far more things after high school. It doesn't just prepare us for the year we go to college or get a job or enter the trades,” she told Agri-Pulse. “It sets us up with lifetime skills.” 

Zittergruen is sharing her own inspiration from Rollins' story with agriculture education students across the state of Iowa while hosting leadership development trainings during NatRollins stands with her FFA advisor Gary Rosenbusch (center right) and former classmates Corey (left) and Tate (right) Rosenbusch. Corey is now president and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute and Tate runs his own business in Texas. ional FFA week. 

Park first met Rollins as a high school student when he was paired as her mentor during a weekend FFA leadership development conference. While celebrating her accomplishments, Park added that local FFA advisers are making an impact in students’ lives everyday. 

“If we think about it, Mr. Rosenbusch and FFA and ag education have made such a difference in so many other students' lives, too. We see Brooke at the top end of that spectrum,” Park said. “But there’s students that'll never make the highlight reel and are out there contributing to their communities and to agriculture and to their families.”

“It's those unknown students to us who are also leaders that really excites me about the work we do with FFA,” Park added. 

In addition to Rollins, Rosenbusch also taught Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell. Gary's own sons Corey, now president and CEO of the Fertilizer Institute, and Tate, who runs his own business in Texas, are among other students who have sat in his classroom. 

“We just try to point them in the right direction and hope that they find their way,” Rosenbusch said. 

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