Elise Anderson has raised pigs since she was 8 years old, and at least three generations of her family have produced pork in rural Nebraska. When Anderson joined the Lyons-Decatur FFA Chapter in 2018, a swine entrepreneurship supervised agricultural experience (SAE) was a natural fit.
Anderson started by breeding, farrowing and raising market hogs. Although she continued to enjoy taking care of pigs with her family, she soon found additional interests in food science, plant science, dairy cattle judging and agritourism.
“FFA really helped foster my love of learning,” Anderson says. “I love to soak up new information about any topic, but especially agriculture.”
As Anderson became more involved in FFA and other high school activities, she realized she needed to simplify her swine project. Checking the farrowing house at 2 a.m. was just not practical anymore, she says, so Anderson sold her breeding herd and started buying weaned pigs. She fed pigs from April through the summer and into the fall, and marketed them directly to consumers who picked their pork up at the local butcher shop.
From One SAE to Three
In high school, Anderson also worked at Harvest Moon, a pumpkin patch 5 miles from her house, as part of an outdoor recreation placement SAE. Many of the young families visiting the pumpkin patch traveled from Omaha and were seeing agriculture up close for the first time, so she found herself wanting to help agriculture shine in its best light. Anderson says she enjoyed seeing the joy on the faces of toddlers and 10-year-olds as they picked pumpkins and posed for pictures with the resident goats, alpacas and donkey.
Her experiences at the pumpkin patch helped Anderson realize she wanted to pursue a career in agriculture education, which led to her third SAE: teaching youth through STEM CARES, a Nebraska 4-H program. Starting in the summer after she graduated from high school and before she moved to Lincoln to major in agriculture education at the University of Nebraska, Anderson taught STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum at summer school programs. The lessons focused on gardening and wind engineering, Anderson says.
“I got to work one-on-one with the kids and watch them learn to think for themselves and jump into areas I enjoyed teaching,” Anderson says. “I loved watching kids grow in agriculture.”
Finding a Future in Ag
This past summer, Anderson fed out 10 pigs as part of her SAE with help from her sister, Linden Anderson, who is starting her own swine project as a freshman member of the Lyons-Decatur FFA Chapter. However, the UNL sophomore is focused on a career in 4-H Extension youth development. Being involved in Extension, she says, will keep her connected to the agriculture community and allow her to continue learning and helping others learn about all aspects of agriculture.
Anderson says she wants to help children “find their light,” like she found hers in learning about agriculture. In pursuing her chosen career path, she expects to use many of the skills she gained through FFA and her SAE projects, including time management, how to stay calm under pressure, customer relations and team building.
“I’ve learned I love to help other people,” Anderson says. “I have a strong belief that people really can do anything if they want to do it. It’s going to take hard work and dedication, which are two things I’ve also been able to develop through FFA.”
