The Dairy SAE

The student I went to visit is a girl who has been raised on a dairy farm. She is very passionate about her farming heritage and seemed to be very proud of where she comes from and what her family does. The visit occurred at her families dairy farm.

The preparation that was needed before going to the farm was first of all asking the student when she would be available. She then confirmed with her family when a good time for us to come would be. After that Ms. Russell and I coordinated schedules with the student. The day we were initially suppose to go school was cancelled. So, even though we still could have gone we decided to just wait until the following day because that was okay with the student's family.

The student had multiple things going on when it came to her SAE. Her SAE's were both entrepreneurship and placement. For entrepreneurship she raises both steers and dairy cattle to show and for the placement piece she works on the farm for her family.

When it came to evaluation for her show animals, specifically the steer the weight was taken to ensure that she was feeding him correctly. For the placement piece Ms. Russell keeps in contact with the students grandparents who are the main owners of the family farm. Through this communication she ensures that the student is performing well at her placement. lastly, for evaluation Ms. Russell checks records in AET to make sure things are getting done and to make sure the student is keeping up good habits.

The recommendation that was made to improve this student's SAE was to feed the steer more, since the weather has been so cold. That way he can still maintain or gain weight, so when she goes to show him he will be ready.

When it comes to grading SAE actually counts for a single credit. The students who are taking an Ag class have the option to also take a 1 credit SAE course. on the schedule it shows up as period 0 and counts towards their overall GPA. Not only does this help students towards graduation, but it also creates more completers for the Ag Ed program.