SAEs Help FFA Members by “Doing to Learn”
Justin Myers, of Forreston FFA, grew up on his family farm in northern Illinois.
The FFA motto consists of four lines: “Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve.” Most members find themselves looking for examples of each of these, and Justin Myers is the perfect example of “Doing to Learn.” Myers is a freshman at Highland Community College and graduated from Forreston High School in 2025, where he was an active member and officer of the Forreston FFA. Entering his freshman year of high school, Myers was known as an “ag kid.” He grew up on his family farm in Northern Illinois, where he had many varieties of crops and animals. With guidance from his advisor, Kelley Parks, Myers began his record book journey.
Justin was able to sort out his home responsibilities into eight supervised agricultural experience (SAE) categories. These areas include sheep entrepreneurship, beef entrepreneurship, grain production entrepreneurship, fiber and oil crop entrepreneurship, forage production, ag service, and ag business. The time and effort put into his books are extremely notable in themselves, but the outcomes are even more outstanding.
Some of Myers’ highest awards were earned through his SAEs, including four-time Section Winner, two-time District Winner, and Illinois State Winner in diversified crop entrepreneurship. In that same area, Myers was even a national finalist. Justin was also the 2025 District 1 Star Farmer. Myers also earned his State FFA Degree and has been approved for his American FFA Degree. Just to add to that astonishing list of accomplishments, he has just been selected as the Illinois candidate for American Star Farmer.
Prepared for the Future
Although the titles and plaques are a bonus to all of Myers’ success, SAEs are meant to prepare you for your future endeavors. Myers certainly believes that they have; he wants to continue on and take over his family farm.
“My SAEs helped me become a better farmer by helping me understand how to keep an orderly track of my financials and stay organized,” Myers said.
Not only do SAEs prepare you for the working world, but they also teach you skills to will carry with you for life. Myers said, “Through my experience with my SAEs, I learned how to manage my time with the best efficiency.”
Skills like time management, financial understanding and farming experience are very beneficial when starting your future and your career. For Myers, due to his acquired skills, he has managed to grow his original operations, as well as buying his second farm and fulfilling many goals along the way.
“Doing to Learn” can look different to everyone. Getting involved and doing something hands-on will always give you a great skill set, a benefit for your future, and potentially some pretty cool hardware and titles — just like Justin Myers.
