Zittergruen was a 2025 recipient of the Cyndi Young Scholarship presented by Brownfield. Her radio interview with Brownfield from the 2026 Iowa State Fair can be heard below:
The recently retired Iowa FFA state president says the Iowa State Fair gives members a unique opportunity to showcase their hard work and achievements.
Chloe Zittergruen wrapped up her term as state president in April, and she tells Brownfield she’s always looked forward to the prep work that goes into showing at the state fair.
“The role that FFA plays here at the state fair is insanely crucial,” she said. “It gives an opportunity for all of our over 20,000 members to bring their agricultural projects that they have worked on and put time into all year long and showcase them here for a couple days.”
She says FFA members can enter in a variety of categories.
“Anywhere from food science to swine, sheep, floriculture, and even ag mechanics,” Zittergruen said. “Truly seeing all facets of agriculture being shown here, but also giving fairgoers who don’t come from an ag background an opportunity to experience what a hog show looks like.”
Zittergruen says many members are also involved with 4-H projects and activities.
“Since 4-H you can start when you are in fourth grade, and FFA is either when you are in junior high or high school, they most of the time start out with their 4-H career and will transition into FFA or stay in both.”
The Keswick native is studying agricultural communications at Iowa State University. This summer, Zittergruen was selected as Iowa’s national FFA officer candidate and will find out whether she’s elected at the National FFA Convention in October.
