Winning projects include solar powered chicken coops, bee cultivation, welding, draft horses, trapping & tanning, breeding cows for milk that is less triggering for lactose intolerance. 

Farm Credit annually awards $51,000 in grants to 51 FFA members across the country, as well as $51,000 in grants to the winners’ FFA chapters.  

Nearly 1,300 students nationwide competed for the Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) grants. These grants help FFA members create or expand their SAE projects, a requirement that all FFA members must complete.   

Of the 51 winning students, we have highlighted several projects below.  

Student: Anna Henry  
State: Ohio  
Grade: 12th 
SAE Pathway: Animal Systems  

Anna’s SAE project consisted of expanding her honey operation. With a goal to grow from 4 hives producing 150 pounds of honey to 10 hives. Currently, she offers 6 products, including raw honey, honey sticks, lip balm, soap, candles and body butter. With her additional 6 hives, she will add 2 products to sell including bowl covers and cut honeycomb. And she looks to expand her revenue streams by attending Farmers Markets and opening an Etsy store to sell her products. When asked about her project, Anna says, “The biggest impact for me was learning leadership skills. As an officer in my chapter, I learned how to lead others in a positive way. Additionally, through my SAE, I learned how to run a small business and make smart decisions. I also learned grit and hard work through the efforts put into my SAE.” 

Student: Vanessa Clair 
State: Vermont 
Grade: 11th 
SAE Pathway: Animal Systems 

Vanessa has an internship working with draft horses for her SAE project. Currently, she works with a team of Percherons that perform the following: hayrides in the community, sleigh rides in the winter and at local fairs during the summer. The financial support through this grant helped Vanessa continue growing independently through her purchase of a show bridle, single draft horse harness and supplies. Looking towards the future, Vanessa aims to make a self-sustaining business, in addition to working in logging, sugaring, forestry, as well as donate her time for hayrides with community members. 

Student: Anna Dingle  
State: South Carolina  
Grade: 12th  
SAE Pathway: Agribusiness Systems 

For Anna’s SAE project, she opened her own welding business. During the welding SAE, she faced many challenges, including opening a business with no experience and being a woman in a male-dominated industry. She persevered and taught two other women how to weld. She plans to use the SAE funds to work toward opening her business up to all women with an interest in welding. And she aims to collaborate with female students at her high school who have an interest in welding, and eventually teach students in her county.  

Student: Carter Moore  
State: Idaho  
Grade: 9th 
SAE Pathway: Animal Systems  

Carter’s SAE project goal has a long-term goal in mind: a purebred Dexter herd of A2A2 cows. A2A2 is a milk gene that allows some people who are lactose intolerant to drink milk. Carter started a nurse cow operation with one Jersey, who first calved in August. After calving, he purchased two Holsteins and a Holstein-Angus cross. He put three calves on her and will wean after four to six months of nursing. Carter aims to have two nurse cows by the time he starts junior year and five cows in his Dexter cow-calf operation with the A2A2 milk gene by the summer of his senior year. One challenge he has experienced is the elevated cost of A2A2 cows. 

Student: Grayden Stanton 
State: New York 
Grade: 10th 
SAE Pathway: Animal Systems 

Grayden’s SAE project utilizes solar powered chicken coops for 17 laying hens. The grant enables him to add one solar panel to each of his coops, which power lights to increase egg production, animal repellent devices outside near the coops, automatic doors to keep predators from coming near the coop and a heater to keep the coop water from freezing in the winter. 

Grayden sells his eggs to local customers through social media. He aims to increase egg production by 10% by limiting losses from predators and increasing egg volume with the lighting system. The increase in profits will allow him to reinvest in the SAE project. 

Student: Jackson Wallen 
State: Illinois 
Grade: 10th 
SAE Pathway: Natural Resource Systems 

Jackson’s SAE project focuses on trapping and selling tanned hides. His work in trapping targets species that need thinning out to help with ecosystem preservation. His SAE combines his love for wildlife and natural resource preservation with knowledge of trapping rules and regulations in the state of Illinois. He began his trapping business with a small set of older traps and did not utilize 30 hides he harvested. The Farm Credit grant enabled him to purchase a freezer to help hold 20 additional hides prior to tanning that he can complete in the off-season. The grant also allowed him to set up a tanning operation in his garage. He now has a table, tanning tools and equipment. The ability to utilize his tanning area ensured his tools lasted longer, it kept the surface prepped for tanning and held the salts and liquid in a safe location. Hides will stay in the freezer for the minimum of 2 weeks, allowing time to harvest more during the season. Jackson then sells the hides to fur traders to help offset his costs. 

The SAE grant helped to build his current inventory and branch out into other trapping options. He has grown from 3 to 39 clients. He also started working on his tanning SAE, where he turns the hides into usable goods. His teacher says, “I believe his application for National SAE Grants helped him plan, prepare and grow his SAE with a purpose and direction. Thank you so much for supporting kids like Jackson.” Jackson was named the 2023 State Winner in the Proficiency Area of Wildlife Management. 

Congratulations to the 2022 SAE grant winners: 

Hudson Manning, Alabama 
Paden Dillard, Arizona 
Coby Boyce, Arkansas 
Alyssa Fiorentino, Arkansas 
Hernan Robles, California 
Braylon Bruns, Colorado 
Kai’Son Greene, Florida 
Charity Tola, Florida 
Sadie Beth Sell, Georgia 
Carter Moore, Idaho 
Jackson Wallen, Illinois 
Alex Crockett, Indiana 
Emily Boeckmann, Iowa 
Noah Goss, Kansas 
Bryce Hoeltzel, Kansas 
Jaxton Wood, Kentucky 
Luke Natali, Louisiana  
Bailey Franks, Maryland 
Brennah Nulty, Massachusetts 
Lauren Gorsuch, Michigan 
Abby VanPelt, Minnesota 
Mallary Lemoine, Mississippi 
Tristen Collins, Misosuri 
Gracyn Schulenberg, Missouri 
Grace Fritz, Montana 
Mahaya Jones, Nebraska 
Jasmin Montano, New Mexico 
Grayden Stanton, New York 
Preston Sechrest, North Carolina 
Jackson Fischer, North Dakota 
Kelsi Neuman, North Dakota 
Anna Henry, Ohio 
Zane Clark, Oklahoma 
Taycee Metcalf, Oklahoma 
Reece Gorham, Oregon 
Lea Weston, Oregon 
Garrett Kaltenbach, Pennsylvania 
Anna Dingle, South Carolina 
Joseph Grady, South Dakota 
Hannah Harrell, Tennessee 
Sophie Colvin, Texas 
Ingrith Gil, Texas 
Keaton Eliason, Utah 
Vanessa Clair, Vermont 
Karley Sonifrank, Virginia 
Grace Stowe, Virginia 
Alyssa Badgley, Washington 
Peyton Dugan, West Virginia 
Ashtyn Wiersma, Wisconsin 
Matthew Winch, Wisconsin 
Wyatt Nebeke, Wyoming