SAE Visit #2: The Sauers Family Farm

Last weekend I had the privilege of meeting one of my freshman's family and seeing their farm. We began the morning tagging beef and dairy steers. After tagging they took Mr. Kessler and I on a tour of their new chicken barns. They currently have two six-hundred foot long chicken barns. One of these barns is full of broilers and the other full of layers. It was extremely cool to see the advancements in technology between old barns and these brand new ones.

Ryan checking egg quality before they reach packing.

So how does Ryan's chicken barn placement help prepare him for his future?

After graduation Ryan plans on building his own chicken barn similar to his parents. I was really impressed with Ryan when he gave us the tour. He knows a lot about the chicken industry through working with his dad and brother. The experiences he has gained through his placement is the hands on experience he will need to be a successful farmer himself.

How has he improved his projects over the years?

Ryan has always worked on the family farm in the fields, milking cows, and cleaning eggs. He has worked his way up the ladder and has began taking on more responsibilities. These increased responsibilities have included caring for both chicken barns during the spring/summer fieldwork months and working more throughout the school year.

Brad getting the eggs packaged for storage.

Whats his next step?

Ryan already has a gameplan to become a chicken farmer like his brother and father. He also has many more experiences in his highschool years, since he is a freshman. Ryan wants to continue working with his family focusing on poultry to ensure that is what he wants to do post graduation. Ryan shows the potential to keep the Sauers Family Farm running strong.

Getting to meet my students families and see their projects has been my favorite part of the student teaching experience so far. We are so lucky as ag teachers to be able to see our students projects outside of school and see just how much they improve over 4 years.