Hoosier Ag Today awards scholarship at 4-H Congress INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Hoosier Ag Today recently awarded a communications scholarship to Elizabeth Biever of Vanderburgh County during the Indiana 4-H Leadership Congress. Biever is currently a freshman at Southern Illinois University majoring in agribusiness economics. Biever believes communicating with those outside of agriculture about how their food is produced is extremely important, “I believe there is a huge misconception about genetically modified foods and that needs to change.”
“Agriculture will need good communicators in the future. We are proud to support 4-H youth who have the passion and skill to communicate about agriculture,” said Gary Truitt, president of Hoosier Ag Today, who presented the scholarship at the luncheon. “Elizabeth has shown great communication and leadership abilities in her 4-H club and has represented Indiana at the National 4-H Congress,” he added. This is the 4th consecutive year Hoosier Ag Today has presented a scholarship at the Indiana 4-H Leadership Congress. Indiana 4-H Foundation President Christy Denault also participated in the presentation.
Some of Indiana’s top 4-H youth attended the Indiana 4-H Leadership Congress held November 10 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. In addition to a day-long schedule of seminars, the annual scholarship awards luncheon which was sponsored by CountryMark and Ice Miller, LLP presented top honors and scholarships to 34 individuals.
Miami Trace Agronomy Team competes at national event INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Members of the Miami Trace FFA Chapter in Ohio were one of 34 teams participating in the National FFA Agronomy Career Development Event (CDE). The event was held in conjunction with the 85th National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. The team, led by advisor Bruce Bennett, was awarded a gold emblem and placed second in the nation. Members also competed for individual awards with 131 other participants. Landon Gibbs received a gold emblem, Rachel McClish received a silver emblem, Evan Schaefer received a gold emblem and Judith Straathof received a gold emblem.
The top ten individuals and the national winning team members received cash awards to recognize their success in the event. The cash awards and the agronomy event are sponsored by Bayer CropScience as a special project of the National FFA Foundation. The members of the team placed in the top 15 individually with Straathof placing sixth, Schaefer placing seventh, Gibbs placing ninth and McClish placing thirtieth.
The team competed in the State FFA Agronomy Career Development Event (CDE) in the spring of 2012. The team placed first at the state contest with Evan Schaefer placing first. The National FFA Agronomy CDE is a competitive event that allows students to apply classroom knowledge to real-life situations. Participants’ knowledge of agronomic sciences was tested through several levels of competition including developing solutions for problematic scenarios; identification of seeds, insects, soil and crops; and other management practices.
The event, held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Ind., is one of many educational activities at the National FFA Convention & Expo in which FFA members practice the lessons taught in agricultural education classes. |
