Career Development Events build on what is learned in agricultural classes and encourage members to put their knowledge into practice. These events are designed to help a member prepare for a career in agriculture by testing and challenging the student's technical, leadership, interpersonal and teamwork skills as well as their knowledge of the subject matter. CDEs answer the question, "When will I use this knowledge in the real world?"

Many CDEs are qualifying events for the National FFA CDE competition and/or offer scholarship opportunities.