To increase diversity and reach a broader applicant pool that more accurately reflects rural America, NCGA’s Engaging Members Committee created two new scholarship programs and increased the benefit of their long-standing William C. Berg Academic Excellence in Agriculture Scholarship Program.
NCGA will award five $1,000 scholarships to students attending technical school and community college. Students can be enrolled in any degree or certification program. The committee realized that not every student wants or needs to attend a four-year university to be successful in their community.
The committee also decided that the graduate student program deserved its own category. Students pursuing an advanced degree or working on their doctorate degree should be compared against other similar candidates. The graduate student scholarship will provide a single student a $2,500 award plus the opportunity to attend NCGA’s Corn Utilization and Technology Conference in 2020.
The monetary award for the NCGA William C. Berg Academic Excellence in Agriculture Scholarship Program, which is sponsored by BASF, was expanded to $1,500 and was made available exclusively to undergraduate students pursuing degrees in any subject area.
“The Engaging Members Committee realizes that the future of agriculture as an industry depends upon keeping our best and brightest interested. To enable promising students in the myriad of disciplines that impact ag to further their studies, we offer scholarships that make the path to success a little bit easier,” said Brandon Hunnicutt, who chairs the committee. “All applicants will submit an explanation of how their future work will benefit agriculture. In doing so, we will foster those who will help our industry while inspiring young people to consider how their future can positively impact farmers in a wide variety of ways.”
To be eligible for all three scholarship programs, the student or their parent or legal guardian must be an NCGA member. Scholarship applications must be received by December 1, 2019. Like last year, all scholarship applications will be completed online.
Scholarship recipients will be selected in early 2020. The complete rules and application can be found on our website.
CommonGround
CommonGround is a group of farmers connecting with consumers through conversations about science and research and personal stories about food and misinformation surrounding farming. Supported by the NCGA and state corn organizations.
SHP
The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) is a farmer-led initiative that fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health. Administered by NCGA the partnership has more than 220 working farms enrolled in 16 states. SHP’s mission is to utilize science and data to partner with farmers who are adopting conservation agricultural practices that improve the economic and environmental sustainability of the farm.
CUTC
The Corn Utilization and Technology Conference (CUTC) is a biennial event happening this June. Learn more.
