A person appears sitting and giving an interview. Text on the bottom left reads, "Karley Rayfield “, “Animal systems SAE”,” Lubbock Cooper FFA, Texas."
My name is Karley Rayfield, and I go to Lubbock Cooper High School, and I'm from Lubbock, Texas.
Karley Rayfield holds a cow in a stock show. A man stands behind the cow and holds a paper. Later, she holds the cow in another show and some people stand near the cow. Karley holds the cow in the State Fair of Texas. Some people stand beside the cow and a woman holds a trophy in her hand.
I was drawn to agriculture courses by my involvement in the show ring and showing cattle. I've shown cattle since I was eight years old, so when I got to high school, I was excited and ready to take agricultural courses.
A man touches a cow in the cattle barn. A Professor speaks to the students seated in a room and taking notes. A man lifts a girl child. Text at the bottom reads, "Kelly Young Rayfield at Houston Livestock shows and Rodeo. March 22, 2014."
My dad is heavily involved in agriculture. He showed cattle from a very young age. And now, he's a professor at Texas Tech University, and he is training the next generation of ag. teachers. So really, he's my inspiration behind being involved in agriculture the way that I am.
the man gives treatment to a cow followed by a woman who removes the hair from a cow's ears using a trimmer.
So, an SAE is a kind of a project to get you involved in agriculture, and it can look like many different things.
Karley Rayfield appears on full screen sitting and giving interview.
I have four different SAEs. So, I show steers, I show heifers, and then I have my herd of Hereford cows, and I raised embryos through my past show heifers.
Karley pulls a cow using a rope tied to it and walks holding a stick in her other hand.
It wasn't necessarily a decision to do four SAEs all at once. It was more of a gradual progression.
Karley holds a cow and two persons stand near the cow. Later, she holds a cow in a show and a person stand next to Karley. Text on the bottom reads, "Karley Rayfield. Reserve grand champion market steer." Then, she holds another cow in the show. Text on the bottom reads, "Karley Rayfield. Reserve grand champion Heifer." Cattle stand in their barn. Later, Karley Rayfield opens a container.
So, I started out showing steers, and that's the first thing I did. When I was eight years old, I only had one show steer. And then, from there, I began showing steers and heifers. And then, after I began showing heifers, I started to build my herd of Hereford cows, which I have now, and then that progressed into me raising embryos.
Back to back clips show a calf in the barn followed by cattle standing in their barn. Later, calves eat in their barn.
I think the coolest part of my SAE thus far has been raising calves. When I started doing that, I was just amazed by it because, with the steers, you sell them after one year, and they're done and gone. But with the heifers, you're able to raise calves and just continue the project forever. So, it was really cool to see my hard work continuing beyond just one year.
A lab technician works on a laptop. Later, two girls play with 3 dogs around them followed by a boy who fills animal food from a packet into a container.
No, you do not have to grow up on a farm to have an SAE. You can have a placement SAE, and you can have a job, and that counts as an SAE. You can sell dogs; you can have a garden; it takes many different forms. So, you don't have to be from an agricultural background to get involved.
A calf eats hay. Later, a cow with ear tags in both of her ears stands in the barn. Cattle standing in their barn reappears.
I would tell a student just starting out in agriculture to just start off small. It doesn't have to be a big project at first; mine certainly wasn't. You can start off small and build over time. Just any connection to agriculture at all is a really good start. So don't be discouraged when you see other people's big, massive SAEs that they've built up over the years.
Cows walk inside their barn and drink water from the water container. Later, a view of the barn where the cattle stand followed by the calves eating hay appears.
You need to know that not every SAE, every project you have, is going to be the success that you think it is. There have definitely been failures within my SAE.
Karley Rayfield reappears on full screen sitting and giving an interview.
So, for you to be successful, you need to know it's not always going to be a success from the start. And that when you fail, you have to get back up and try again in order for your SAE to be successful.