Along with the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA)and the American Soybean Association (ASA), BASF Crop Protection announced the winners of six scholarships during the 2011 Commodity Classic on Thursday in Tampa. This is the fourth year for both scholarship programs.

“BASF is dedicated to providing the next generation of agricultural industry leaders with resources to further their education and advance the agriculture industry,” said Paul Rea, Vice President, U.S. Crop Protection, BASF. “Together with the American Soybean Association and the National Corn Growers Association, we’re happy to support future leaders in agriculture through scholarships.”

The NCGA Academic Excellence in Agriculture Scholarship Program awarded five $1,000 scholarships to college students pursuing a degree in an agriculture-related field. The winners are Hayley Bunselmeyer, a junior at the University of Illinois majoring in crop sciences; Kristin DeSutter, a junior at the University of Illinois pursuing agricultural communications; Amy Peyton, a junior at Iowa State University majoring in agricultural business, economics, and public service and administration; Andy Pringnitz, a junior at Iowa State University studying agricultural business, economics and international agriculture; and Jessica Schwartz, a first-year graduate student at Ohio State University specializing in horticulture and crop sciences.

“Providing students with the financial resources to complete their education is the key to building strong agricultural leaders of tomorrow,” said Pam Johnson, a Corn Board member and liaison to the Grower Services Action Team. “We thank BASF for its integral role and support in these scholarships.”

Listen to or download brief interviews with all five scholarship award winners here: NCGA-BASF Scholarship Winners

The ASA Secure Optimal Yield (SOY) Scholarship, sponsored by BASF, is a $5,000 award presented to an outstanding high school senior planning to pursue agriculture as a degree area of study in college.

Kevin Berkland, a high school senior from Sibley, Iowa, was named the 2011-2012 scholarship recipient. Kevin plans to study microbiology at Iowa State University beginning next year. Unfortunately, his flight from Iowa was delayed and he was unable to make it to the awards presentation press conference on Thursday, but he will receive recognition at the ASA banquet on Friday night.

We did get a chance to hear from Laura Stevens of Falls City, Nebraska, who is now a junior at University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was the very first ASA SOY Scholarship winner in 2008. “This was just a really helpful scholarship to me as it helped me to be able concentrate on my studies during my first year in college and also strengthened my commitment to stay in agriculture,” Laura said.

Listen to or download a brief interview with Laura here: 2008 ASA-BASF Scholarship winner

More photos of the winners can be found in the
BASF Commodity Classic Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: and