The Missouri FFA Foundation is awarding a SAE grant to Natasha Lappi, a Waynesville FFA member.
All FFA members are required to participate in a Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE), which may include launching an agriculture-related business, working at an agriculture-related business or conducting an agricultural research project.
Lappi’s agribusiness SAE project brings farming to life through hands-on work raising chickens, goats, pigs and bees. At Stund Acres, located just outside Waynesville, these animals are carefully managed to produce high-quality products for the local community. By selling animal byproducts at her farm stand, Lappi combines sustainability, entrepreneurship and real-world agricultural experience. The grant from the Missouri FFA Foundation will be used to expand her bee operation in hopes of providing honey to the community this summer.
Emily Barnes, the agriculture education teacher at Waynesville Career Center, said, “SAE grants from the Missouri FFA Foundation have been instrumental in growing our chapter’s SAE projects by giving students the chance to build a real business. These opportunities take learning beyond the classroom and develop real world problem-solving skills that strengthen our entire agriculture program. We’re excited to see how this grant helps Natasha expand her bee operation and continue growing her SAE.”
“In 2025, Missouri FFA members generated more than $76 million in income through their SAEs” said Heather Dimitt-Fletcher, executive director of the Missouri FFA Foundation. "Through their SAEs, students are building substantial livestock and poultry operations, conducting impactful agriscience experiments, establishing landscaping businesses, handcrafting goods and launching agribusinesses. These projects speak to the entrepreneurial spirit of our state and represent the future of agriculture. FFA members generally pay the expenses associated with their SAE themselves. Many students and their families do not have the personal financial resources needed to start or expand their projects. The learning opportunities, along with the student income generated by SAEs, are immense. That’s why the
Missouri FFA Foundation’s SAE Grant program is vital. We are thankful for our partners; the MFA Inc. Charitable Foundation and the Missouri Sheep Merchandising Council, whose donations make it possible for us to provide students with grants to off-set the start up or expansion costs of their SAEs.”
Missouri FFA Foundation
The Missouri FFA Foundation secures strategic partnerships and financial resources to enhance, strengthen, and support the educational and leadership opportunities that promote premier leadership, personal growth, and career success for Missourians in Agricultural Education. As a 501c3 nonprofit organization, the foundation is governed by a board of directors. www.missouriffa.org/foundation.
