Canyon FFA member, Sunny Cowley, navigates the growth of her goat production Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) project.

"My top priority is to maintain the health of my animals through nutrition, daily care, and proper maintenance of facilities," said Cowley.

The responsibility of owning a goat operation is a real-world representation of "doing to learn."

"I have been focusing on ways to advance the quality of the kids I produce, as well as finding ways to use my time efficiently," said Cowley. "I have found that using Splash Artificial Insemination (AI) is a way to group my nannies together for breeding and kidding dates and utilize the bucks available to me."

For a business to be successful, it must grow and expand. She has stated that each kid born represents an opportunity for her operation to be profitable and grow.

"As the quality of the animals I produce has increased, the opportunities for me to increase my customer base has also grown," said Cowley. "I must market any goats I don't keep for myself."

The FFA members favorite part of her SAE is getting her goats ready to sell. The process allows the buyers to better see the options available. 

"I market my animals through live, online, and private treaty sales," said Cowley. "I enjoy the opportunity to interact with customers."

Cowley's successful SAE project was recognized as a National Proficiency winner in Goat Production at the 2022 National FFA Convention.