Hayden Lowry holds one of the chickens, on her family’s farm near Searsboro, that will serve a role in Lowry’s incubation business. Lowry was one of 1,238 FFA members nationwide to receive a National FFA SAE Grant. She put extensive work in the grant application process and will continue to report on the progress of her SAE during the first year of the grant.
Hayden Lowry, daughter of Jason and Jennifer Lowry of Searsboro, has been awarded a $1,000 National FFA SAE Grant by Rabo AgriFinance.
Lowry is a member of the Lynnville-Sully FFA Chapter. Her application was selected from among 1,238 applications nationwide. Lowry plans to utilize the grant to start a chicken egg hatching business using the chickens she already raises on her family’s farm.
“I am extremely proud of Hayden for applying for this grant. In a day and age where many kids graduate high school with few skills for their future careers, Hayden has chosen to better herself by creating a great plan for her Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE),” said L-S ag teacher and FFA advisor Jarret Horn. “This grant is confirmation of the work she has put into her project. As a part of the application process, students had to provide strategic plans, a project budget, and set skills goals they want to accomplish as a part of the project. The work she has done for this grant is only just beginning as she will start her incubating business this spring and will continue to report progress on her project during the first year of the grant. With over 20,000 FFA members across the state of Iowa, it is noteworthy for her to have been chosen to be one of about a dozen students across the state to receive this grant. I can’t wait to see the progress she makes and how far she can develop her agribusiness and production skills!”
SAE Grants are designed to help FFA members create or expand Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Projects, a requirement that all FFA members must complete. An SAE requires FFA members to create and operate an agriculture-related business, work at an agriculture-related business, or conduct an agricultural research experience. Upon completion, FFA members must submit a comprehensive report regarding their career development experience.
This year, 26 different sponsors funded SAE Grants. A full list of sponsors can be found on the National FFA Organization website on the SAE Grants webpage.
The National FFA Organization is a school-based national youth leadership development organization of more than 1,027,200 student members as part of 9,235 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
