Supervised Agricultural Experience Program

Definition

SAE programs are teacher-supervised, individualized, hands-on, student developed projects that give students real-world experience in agriculture and/or agriculture related areas. An SAE is considered acceptable if it will correspond to a recognized National FFA Proficiency Award area and meet one of the three criteria below.

Entrepreneurship

Personal ownership of an ag-related enterprise or agribusiness.

Placement

Paid employment or non-paid internship in an ag-related job or career area.

Agriscience

Research based program in which students collect data and reach scientific based conclusions dealing with agriculture or ag-related issues.

Supervised Agricultural Experience

Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) can be described as experiencing life applications. As a part of the agricultural education program, students are encouraged to invest their time and sometimes money into a life application activity that aligns with their interests and career goals. These activities are supervised by the local agricultural education instructor. SAE's could include leadership and public speaking, home and/or community improvement projects, horticulture, gardening, livestock production, poultry production, specialty crop or animal, on-the-job training, agriscience research projects, or a number of other interesting areas. Students are encouraged to maintain their SAE while they are enrolled in agricultural education. This will allow them to continually apply the information used in the classroom to improve their SAE. Students must maintain an SAE in order to retain FFA membership if they are not enrolled in an agriculture education class for one year.

FFA members work in an amazingly wide variety of fields as a part of their Supervised Agricultural Experience Programs. Shantel Adkins, Council Grove FFA Chapter, worked in a greenhouse as a part of her award winning SAE Program.

Food service and grocery store employment would qualify as an SAE for the state degree, as long as there was some progress being made towards management level skills, or other strong food safety or marketing skills were involved. However, these SAE's would be discriminated against as a proficiency award and be at a disadvantage in competition against any other ag sales or ag service SAE. These SAE's would also not be eligible for District or State Star awards. The Ag Ed instructor will be able to approve what is and is not an SAE for local awards and recognition. An SAE must meet the above requirements for any state level SAE recognition or award. It will be the responsibility of the State FFA Advisor and Executive Secretary to determine the eligibility of an SAE for state awards and degrees. It will be the responsibility of the student to communicate that the appropriate skills have been achieved for state level recognition.

There are five factors that define a quality SAE program. Quality programs are:

Documented.

Students maintain an accurate and analytical set of records. Students develop an understanding of managerial practices and identifies alternatives based on his or her records. Records are maintained in a timely manner. Student also develops a resume.

The SAE is curriculum based.

Students use knowledge gained from instruction in planning their SAE. Students use agricultural and academic principles to arrive at end products; assesses new situations and selects appropriate knowledge and skills from curriculum.

The SAE is student managed.

Student applies classroom-learned skills in real-world settings with student-initiated assistance. The SAE is planned and comprehensive. Students experience skills that meet or exceed curricular expectations, accomplishing goals and is managed with a collaboration of student, teacher, and parents, developing into a more independent program.

Student receives recognition.

Recognition can begin with simple recognition for SAE accomplishments and develop into degree recognition and develop further into state and national recognition through degrees and proficiency awards.

Student achieves high-level skills.

The skills a student achieves are more important than a job title. Every SAE should emphasize the skills achieved - just because a student owns 30 cows doesn't mean that (s)he knows anything about how to manage a cow herd. Skills need to be ag related, not just skills that can relate to ag. The argument that the skills can be transferred to an ag related job does not make them ag related skills.