SAE Visits

Nick's Visit

I enjoyed my Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) visit with Nick! Nick is a freshman at Cowanesque Valley High School. For the past two years Nick has been keeping records on his entrepreneurship SAE. Cowanesque FFA evaluates SAE through a checklist. On the checklist we look to see if records are updated on AET, goals, and progress on projects. Nick met all the checklist components during our visit. Here are the highlights of what I was able to see and learn:

     

    

Sunrise Maple: 

Northeastern United States is known for its maple production. In Pennsylvania the top two maple producers are nestled a little over three miles apart from each other in Tioga County. The second ranked maple producer is know as Sunrise Maple. Sunrise Maple is a family run business that is three generations deep. They were established in 2011 and have over 25,000 taps! 

During my visit to the sugar shack I learned about tapping, reverse osmosis, boiling, filtering, testing, and packaging of Sunrise Maple Products. They market the maple products that are not sold out of the store to a wholesale market up in New York State. They have a unique market because they are considered to have organic maple products. Some of the products being a variety of syrup, peanut butter, mustard, relish, popcorn, nuts and more. Here my student Nick trades work for his steer projects. During the school year Nick is sometimes unable to get to the farm and feed his animals. His family helps out when this occurs. 

Eldridge Beef Cattle:

When it comes to the maple business the competitor to Sunrise Maple is Patterson Maple Farm. Patterson Maple Farm is the number one maple producer in Pennsylvania and Sunrise Maple's friends. This is where Nick raises and keeps his beef cattle. His fair steer is his Supervised Agricultural Experience. Nick keeps active records on his projects weekly. 

He explained to me that this time of year he is walking his steer once to twice a week. However, staring in June he will start walking his steer every evening for two hours. This way his steer will be halter trained and show ready. For now, Nick is feeding his steer and caring for its facility. Feeding includes mixing the grains and making sure there is a supply of hay. Caring for the facility includes bedding the pen.

Goals:

During the visit I discussed with Nick his goals for his steer project. He explained to me that his short term goal is for his steer to make weight for fair. My suggestion was to try and make a higher goal. Nick has been showing steers since he was eligible, so he knows that he has a 99% chance of his steer making weight. (Side Note: Nick won Grand Champion Market Steer last year at Tioga County Fair and made top dollar on his steer!) Nick's long term goal is to use the money he gets from his steer's to help pay for college after graduating from Cowanesque Valley High School. Currently, he wants to go to school for business to come home and help run Sunrise Maple.  We discussed some potential schools like Penn Tech, Penn State, and SUNY. 

I enjoyed my SAE visit with Nick. I wish him the best of luck at fair! Before leaving the farm I asked Nick to show me his records on AET. We updated his records, I asked if he had any questions about his SAE or on AET, and then I went on my way for the evening. 

Link:
Check out some of Pennsylvania Maple Producers!
http://pamaple.net/

Kendra & Drake's Visit

For my second SAE visit I traveled out to Chathan Township to stop over at Smeltz Farm. I have driven by this establishment, but had not gotten the chance to stop in till today. I enjoyed my Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) visit with Kendra and Drake! Kendra is a sophomore and Drake is a Senior at Cowanesque Valley High School. For the past few years Kendra and Drake have been keeping records on their entrepreneurship SAE's. As mentioned before, Cowanesque FFA evaluates SAE's through a checklist. On the checklist we look to see if records are updated on AET, goals, and progress on projects. Kendra and Drake met all the checklist components during our visit. Here are the highlights of what I was able to see and learn:

Kendra:

Kendra's SAE is her fair animals. Focusing on her beef cow (who does not like me taking its picture), and two crossbred pigs (who are hard to capture not running around). After today's visit Kendra feels she has some work to do with her animals if they are going to be ring and crowd ready by fair. 

Kendra has a lot of responsibilities when it comes to taking care of her show animals. She keeps active records and takes care of them daily. Her daily chores include feeding, washing, brushing, and bedding. When Kendra is unable to make it over to the farm due to softball her older brother, father, or grandpa help her out. 

Drake:

Every year Drake has had his SAE focused around his fair animals just like his sister. Drake won Reserve Grand Champion Market Steer at the 2017 Tioga County Fair last year. He has decided to end his show years at a high point. This year Drake will not be exhibiting show animals at the county fair. Instead he is getting ready to go into the dairy business. After graduating high school he plans to finish fixing up his grandpa's old dairy barn to make it run once again. 

He has kept accurate records of the remodel and fixing during this transition period. Drake is responsible for all aspects of starting a dairy business.  The parlor and milk house have been the main focus because the equipment has not been used for over 15 years. After that he is focusing on adding free stalls, feed storage, and ventilation throughout the barn. His family and friends are there to support him, but he has a long rode ahead of him. He is driven to ready to be a dairy farmer. 

Goals:

During the visit I discussed with Kendra and Drake their goals for their projects. Kendra explained to me that her short term goal is to raise a healthy animal. Her long term goal is to one day become a vet-tech.  My one suggestion was to make sure she kept up with feeding her hogs to keep the weight on them. She has a self feeder but is might hold just over 50lbs of feed. With two pigs that feeder could get low quick. I told her that working with animals today will help her reach both goals. Kendra plans to attend SUNY Alfred after graduating from Cowanesque Valley to then become a large animal vet-tech. 

Drake's short term and long term goal is to get his dairy business started. He graduates from Cowanesque Valley High School the first week in June. After graduation he feels he will have more time to finish up all the projects he has started in the parlor, milk house, and barn. I believe he can do it, but I did explain he needs to take one day at a time. Drake and I have looked into some grants to help get him started as well. 

I enjoyed my SAE visit with Kendra and Drake. I wish them the best of luck at fair and starting the dairy! Before leaving the farm I asked them to show me their records on AET. We updated the records, I asked if they had any questions about SAE or on AET, and then I said goodbye.