One of the highlights of my career is my ability to help deserving young people pursue their education for careers in agriculture. Students and counselors will want to take note of the opportunities described below, and I hope you’ll also enjoy reading about some recent scholarship recipients.
Scholarship Deadlines Are Approaching Fast
MURRAY WISE ASSOCIATES FOUNDATION SCHOLARSHIPS
Offered by: Murray Wise Associates Foundation
Purpose: Provide assistance to outstanding students in agriculture and related fields.
Awards: Minimum of $1,000 and renewable annually for up to four years as long as certain conditions are met.
Criteria: Based entirely on merit, with no limits on where the student lives or plans to study.
Deadline: March 31, 2015
ROBERT L. LOCKE AGRONOMY/AGRICULTURAL SCHOLARSHIP
Offered by: Wise Family Foundation
Purpose: Identify and reward Wright County, Iowa, students pursuing college programs in agronomy or agriculture.
Criteria: Potential need of student, potential impact of student on the agricultural community, and student’s academic achievements and other activities.
Deadline: May 1, 2015
How to apply: Obtain application from Dawn Waters at 515-532-2878 and submit it to: Locke Scholarship, 214 North Main Street, P.O. Box 537, Clarion, Iowa, 50525.
Congratulations to Murray Wise Associates Agriculture Entrepreneur Scholarship Winner Ryan Fisher
Every year, a deserving young entrepreneur (or future entrepreneur) is named the winner of our biggest scholarship – the $10,000 Murray Wise Associates Agriculture Entrepreneur Scholarship. This award is offered through the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative at Iowa State University, as part of the school’s business incubator program.
This year’s winner is Ryan Fisher, a fine young man from a farming family and a senior at the university. Ryan, who has been involved with the entrepreneurship program for his entire time at Iowa State, hopes to establish an agriculture-related business. I’ll be excited to see what his career holds, and I’m glad we are able to help him along the way.
Parkland College Winners
Finally, we’re also proud of the awards we provide to agricultural management students at Parkland College. For years, students have competed in an appraisal contest, with their estimates compared to the price in an upcoming auction. Starting in the fall, Murray Wise Associates decided to make it more interesting by offering a $1,000 scholarship to the student coming closest to the sale price.
The winner in the fall was Blake Kinkelaar, a 26-year-old from Seymour who spent five years in the Marines and decided during his tour of duty that he wanted to be a farmer. He returned from active duty and now has a seven-acre farm where he grows fruits and vegetables.
The contest for the spring semester came in February, with two student contestants splitting the award. Each came closest on one of the two tracts offered in an auction in Mahomet. The winners were Kat Longtin, from Cissna Park, who is in the Agricultural Business Management program, and Clayton Smith, from Mahomet, who is in the Precision Agriculture program.