BASF Crop Protection, the American Soybean Association (ASA), National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), and the National Wheat Foundation (NWF) celebrated ten years of rewarding future agriculture industry leaders with scholarships during the 2016 Commodity Classic last week.
A past scholarship winner who now works for BASF as a tech service rep had the honor of presenting the awards this year. John Schultz of Arkansas won one of the NCGA scholarships in 2010. “I had no idea that I would end up working for them,” John said of winning the scholarship funding by his current employer. “I was able to obtain an internship with them after receiving the scholarship and it opened up a lot of networking opportunities within BASF.”
John didn’t even think he had a chance of winning the scholarship in 2010 so he encourages students to take the opportunity. “You can’t win if you don’t apply,” he said. Interview with John Schultz, BASF
Brownfield’s Tom Steever interviews past scholarship winners – Morgan Perez (2012), Carly Cummings (2010), Laura Thompson (2008), and John Schultz (2010)
Morgan Perez of Washington received the first National Wheat scholarship in 2012 and it helped her change her career path to major in agricultural technology and production management and become a crop advisor. “I really did not plan on going into this field…I planned to be a doctor,” she said. Interview with Morgan Perez, 2012 wheat scholarship winner
Carly Cummings, who now works for Iowa State University, was one of John’s fellow corn scholarship winners in 2010. “The biggest benefit was the networking opportunities it allowed me,” said Carly. Interview with Carly Cummings, 2010 corn scholarship winner
Laura Thompson of Nebraska was the very first winner of the ASA Secure Optimum Yield (SOY) scholarship in 2008 as a high school senior. She received a masters degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in agronomy focusing on precision agriculture technologies and is now an extension educator at UNL. Interview with Laura Thompson, 2008 SOY scholarship winner
BASF Science Behind Living Acres Photo Album
2016 Commodity Classic Photo Album
