Mayfield Central School District agriculture student Lilly Perham has recently been awarded Farm Credit East’s FFA SAE Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded to students with a strong Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) who understand the project’s impact on their future career in an agriculturally related field.
An SAE is a hands-on, student-developed project outside of class where students apply their learned agricultural knowledge to develop real-world skills. Instructors supervise their projects, guiding them through research, work-based experiential learning, and career exploration.
When ag teachers Brandon Trinkle and McKenzie Stahl were notified of this scholarship opportunity, they immediately thought of Lilly. Lilly is in 11th grade and has previously taken Animal Science and is currently in the Agriculture Business course at Mayfield. She also attends HFM CTE for Veterinary and Animal Science.
“We are very proud of Lilly for all the work she puts into her animals,” said Stahl. “She is an amazing asset to our program.”
A leader in her agricultural classes, Lilly is president of Mayfield’s FFA Chapter, while continually taking initiative in her own agricultural endeavors. Outside of school, Lilly cares for a small farm of animals, most of which she has purchased herself. She currently has three horses, four goats, two pigs and numerous chickens.
Lilly’s most recent venture has been the addition of a beef cow named Nutmeg. Nutmeg is a British White Park, a breed known for their hardiness and adaptability, and is the focus of Lilly’s SAE project. Part of the scholarship application process included providing a financial plan for the money awarded, which Lilly will put to the care and handling of Nutmeg as she prepares her for the show ring.
“I’m excited to start showing Nutmeg and see what she can do,” said Perham. “And in the end if she doesn’t show good conformation and isn’t right as a show cow, I plan to breed her and see if I can develop the traits needed in her calf.”
Lilly has a strong future ahead of her in the agriculture industry. Her plans include attending either SUNY Cobleskill or SUNY Morrisville, and exploring the fields of animal reproduction science or equine chiropractic.
Committed to supporting the next generation of agricultural leaders, Farm Credit East’s scholarship offers high school students support for educational opportunities within the agriculture, commercial fishing or forest products industries. Applicants must be active in their local FFA chapter and reside within the eight states Farm Credit East serves. Applicants are evaluated on their SAEs as laid out in the scholarship’s scoring rubric. Applicants can receive the scholarship once per year. For more information, visit https://www.farmcrediteast.com/en/about/community-support/Scholarships/FFA-Scholarship