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Your Money: Keeping Records

Tips for keeping good SAE records

Your Money: Keeping Records


May 2008

A good grade is just one of the benefits FFA members stand to gain from their supervised agricultural experience programs (SAEs).

Another is the opportunity to explore a career and practice the real-world activities that go with it – including (sigh) record keeping.

It’s no secret that documenting SAEs with pages of records isn’t most members’ favorite part of the process. But, believe it or not, that’s part of the SAE learning concept.

Advisor Nyle Russell from Payson High School in Payson, Utah, created an electronic Utah state FFA record book and attaches a lot of importance to record keeping.

He says, “The better records we can keep, the better off we’ll be in all aspects of our lives.”

Electronic Record Books
Students have it far easier since electronic record books came on the scene, Russell says. They are probably the key factor in successful SAE documentation. For instance, instead of writing the same information over and over on different forms, once information is entered electronically, it can be transferred from page to page, formatted for different award applications, safely stored,
and easily accessed.

But for many students, the process breaks down long before they enter their data into a computer. The critical step of collecting project data is often the hardest one.

Data Collection Tools
Hedj Nelson, hog farmer and owner/operator of Columbia View Orchard in Kettle Falls, Wash., uses a few simple tools – notebooks, receipt files and calendars – to collect the information that keeps his operation’s records on track.

“I have a notebook for chemical spraying, because you have to keep track of the day, the time, the weather conditions, what chemical you sprayed. I keep my notebook with me, and I always write things down right away,” he says. “If you don’t, you’ll forget. You always think, ‘I’ll write it down tomorrow,’ but you never do. And the longer you wait, the less you remember.”

Entrepreneurship SAEs call for analysis of a business’s financial success. Nelson’s expense records, and the cash register receipts he totals at the end of each business day, show his profits and losses.

“As far as taxes, you want to keep records of all your expenses for write-offs,” Nelson adds. “Again, I keep a notebook with me, and I just write it down every time I buy something.”

“At the end of the year, I just hand the accountant all my itemized records, and all he has to do is fill in the numbers,” he explains.

Likewise, as with many SAE components, some responsibilities on the Nelson farm have to be done on a schedule.

“I probably keep more records for the pigs than I do for the orchard,” Nelson says. He uses a calendar to keep track of shots, breeding cycles and so on.

Your Critical Action
“The crucial step for [students] is to write [data] down immediately,” Russell urges. “If they wait three months and then go to update their record book, they’ve forgotten things.”

So, take a few minutes to put things to paper as they happen. It will make a huge difference in whether your SAE record keeping is painless or a royal pain.

Story by Carol Cowan


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The National FFA Organization is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. Visit ffa.org