Nominated by local farmers, 158 students across the Midwest have been awarded scholarships from the America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders program, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund. The program, established in 2014, seeks to raise awareness of the job prospects in agriculture and provides scholarships to students pursuing studies in ag-related fields.
While agriculture has become one of the most promising sectors for job growth – 57,900 high-skilled jobs are created annually in food, agriculture, renewable natural resources, and environmental fields in the United States, according to the USDA – a recent survey, sponsored by America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders, found that fewer than one in five students surveyed feel they understand the diverse array of career opportunities in the agriculture field. The Grow Ag Leaders program aims to change that by awarding deserving students with scholarships to pursue an education in any ag-related field of study, including agronomy, education, engineering, and many others.
“Agriculture has become a hot sector for job growth in the United States, but few high school and college students understand what incredible job opportunities exist in the agriculture field,” said Al Mitchell, Monsanto Fund president. “With the America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders program, we’re helping future agriculture leaders understand those opportunities, and we’re providing them the means to help secure those opportunities through education.”
Grow Ag Leaders scholarships, administered by the National FFA Organization, are open to students 23 and younger, who live in eligible counties in Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, and Ohio, and are planning to enroll or are currently enrolled in trade schools, community colleges, and four-year universities. The scholarships are awarded in $1,500 increments to students pursuing an education in an ag-related field of study, including farming, agronomy, education, science, technology, business, communications, and more. In order to be eligible to receive a Grow Ag Leaders scholarship, students had to be nominated by a farmer in their state.
Since the program began in 2014, the America’s Farmers Ag Leaders program has awarded nearly $1.7 million in scholarships to promising students pursuing their education in agriculture.
For more information about the America’s Farmers Grow Ag Leaders program or to view a complete list of winners, visit www.GrowAgLeaders.com.
