FFA SAE Record Keeping Guide

What counts as SAE time

Time spent directly caring for and managing the animal project: feeding, watering, health checks, weighing, cleaning pens, and record keeping itself. Time spent driving to buy feed or attending a related workshop can often count too, depending on your chapter and state guidelines -- check with your advisor on what's allowed before logging it.

Records you'll actually need

• Hours log: date, activity, and time spent -- ideally logged the same day, not reconstructed weeks later from memory.
• Financial records: what you paid for the animal, feed, supplies, and vet care, plus what you earned from any sale.
• Inventory: what you own related to the project (the animal, equipment) and its approximate value.
• Production records: weights over time, health events, and breeding or show results if applicable.

Why "I'll log it later" doesn't work

AET (Agricultural Experience Tracker) and similar systems expect consistent, dated entries -- a wall of hours logged the night before a deadline is both harder to do accurately and easier for a reviewer to question. Logging in the moment, even briefly, is far more reliable than reconstructing a season from memory.

A simple weekly routine

Log hours and any expenses right after you do the work -- most entries take under a minute. Once a week, do a quick weigh-in and note it. Once a month, review your running expense total against what you expected to spend, so nothing surprises you at sale time.