SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — High school students from across Illinois visited the State Capitol on March 5 to meet with legislators and advocate for agriculture education funding. State Sen. John Sullivan (D-Rushville) met with FFA students from Western Illinois schools during the 2015 Illinois Agriculture Legislative Day.

“Agriculture education under the governor’s proposed budget would be completely eliminated. That is not acceptable. These young students are here sharing their stories about how agriculture education prepares them for careers and advocating for suitable funding,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan’s district has 23 high schools with agriculture programs.

This year, Sullivan is serving as the chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee. He has served on the committee as vice chair the past four years and previously chaired the committee from 2005 to 2009.

 

 

PHOENIX, Ariz. — BASF Crop Protection has teamed up with industry-leading commodity organizations to award scholarships to 10 students pursuing degrees in agriculture. Working with the American Soybean Assoc. (ASA), the National Corn Growers Assoc. (NCGA) and the National Wheat Foundation (NWF), BASF presented students with scholarships Feb. 26 during the 2015 Commodity Classic in Phoenix.

Maria Kuhns of Mason, Ill., was chosen as the 2015-2016 ASA SOY scholarship recipient. Maria will pursue a degree in agricultural business at the University of Missouri, in Columbia, Mo., beginning this fall.

The Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) scholarship is a $5,000 award presented to an exceptional high school senior who has achieved both high academic success and has excelled in leadership roles. Students applying for the ASA SOY Scholarship must also plan to pursue a degree in an agriculture-related field at an accredited college or university.

BASF teamed up with NCGA to provide the William C. Berg Academic Excellence in Agriculture scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each to these excelling undergraduate or graduate students pursuing an agricultural degree:

•Caleb Brannon of Puryear, Tenn. – a winner of last year’s ASA SOY scholarship, Caleb is a sophomore at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky, studying agricultural business.

•Deja Jackson of St. Helena Island, S.C. – a senior at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C., studying civil engineering. She plans to pursue her Ph.D. in civil engineering at the University of Florida this fall.

•Amber Pickard of Hastings, Mich. – a junior at Michigan State University in East Lansing studying agribusiness management.

•Faith Wendte of Urbana, Ill. – a junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, studying agribusiness management.

•Elizabeth Wittenbach of Belding, Mich. – a junior at Michigan State University, studying agribusiness management.

In its third year, the Jerry Minore Memorial Scholarship honors both high school and college students who have demonstrated success in academics and leadership roles. Recipients of the Jerry Minore Memorial Scholarship also must pursue careers in the agriculture industry.

Four students were awarded a $1,000 or $1,500 scholarship: 

•JD Rosman of Creston, Wash. – a sophomore at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., studying agricultural communications.

•Matthew Stubbs of LaCrosse, Wash. – a sophomore at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colo., studying crop science and agribusiness.

•Maya Wahl of Lind, Wash. – currently serving the Washington FFA Assoc. as State Officer, she will be attending Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., in the fall, where she’ll be studying agriculture communications and journalism.

•Faith Wendte of Urbana, Ill. – also a winner of the NCGA William C. Berg Academic Excellence in Agriculture scholarship, she is a junior at the University of Illinois, studying agribusiness management.

 

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The 2015 Dairy- Palooza sponsored by Ohio 4-H Dairy and The Ohio State University Extension offers dairy youth two opportunities to learn more about the dairy industry and improve their skills in fitting, showing and much more. There also will be a career expo with representatives from several organizations to discuss careers in agriculture and the dairy industry. 

This year, there will be two events scheduled: DairyPalooza Northeast is May 2 at the Trumball County Fairgrounds in Cortland, Ohio. DairyPalooza West is May 9 at the Auglaize County Fairgrounds in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

For more information, go to www.ohiodairypalooza.com or call 614-688-3143.