INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The National FFA Scholarship Program went live Nov. 15. This year, the top three scholarship sponsors are Ford, Cargill and AGCO. 

The 2012 online scholarship application and a variety of helpful tools are now available on the scholarship page of ffa.org (www.ffa.org/programs/grantsandscholarships/Scholarships/Pages/default.aspx) Applications must be submitted online by 5 p.m. EST Feb. 15, 2012. A completed signature page, postmarked no later than Feb. 22, 2012, is required to complete eligibility.

JOHNSTON, Iowa — The Iowa Corn Growers Assoc. (ICGA) and Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB) are excited to again offer the Iowa Corn Future of Agriculture scholarships to aid in the development of future talent for the Iowa agriculture industry.   This year Iowa Corn will award 10 scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students who are pursuing a degree in the 2012-13 school year.  

“Iowa Corn understands that to remain successful as an industry, we must develop a strong group of agricultural experts who are entering the industry – both producers and agribusiness professionals,” said Bob Hemesath, a farmer from Calmar and chair of the Iowa Corn committee that oversees the scholarship program.  “This scholarship program is an important component of developing youth in agriculture and to the future of the agriculture industry in Iowa.”

The Iowa Corn Future of Agriculture Scholarship program will award five $500 first-year scholarships and five $500 upperclassman scholarships for individuals who are pursuing a degree in agriculture or an agriculture related field.  Applicants also must either be a member of ICGA or a dependent of a member. 

First-year scholarship applicants must be entering their first undergraduate year at an accredited junior college, college or university.  Upperclassman scholarship applicants must be entering at least their second year at an accredited junior college or university.  

Scholarship applications are available online at www.iowacorn.org/scholarship or by requesting one via email at corninfo@iowacorn.org  Applications must be postmarked by Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. 

Ohio FFA chapters win Food for Thought Challenge   

DELAWARE, Ohio — Nine Ohio FFA chapters won $500 and one Ohio FFA chapter will win a grand award of $2,000 because of the Ohio Small Grains Marketing Program’s (OSGMP) sponsorship of a nutritional-awareness campaign — The “Food for Thought Challenge.” 

Introduced at the annual Farm Science Review, Food for Thought is a statewide competition among FFA chapters to increase awareness about the nutritional value of a diet with whole grains, among other healthy behavior changes, in their schools. 

Participating FFA chapters submitted campaign entries in September and were selected in October based on the originality of their campaign ideas. 

Food for Thought FFA chapters include: Ridgemont, Mt. Gilead, Northwestern, Clear Fork, London, Miami East, Ridgedale, North Union and Twin Valley South.

Many chapters have already begun implementing their campaigns, which include tactics such as promoting the use of student food logs, organizing educational fairs with health-related groups and providing healthy snacks between classes.

The FFA chapters will showcase their campaign efforts at the 84th Ohio State FFA Convention May 3 and 4 at the Ohio State Fairgrounds. One chapter’s efforts will also be selected as the winner and will be honored with the grand award. 

ROCKFORD, Ohio — On Nov. 17, Parkway FFA sent a varsity team to the parliamentary procedure sub-district contest at Delphos Jefferson High School. This Career Development Event helps students gain public speaking skills and become better at running meetings.

The team included President Caden Hellwarth, Vice President Destinee Guggenbiller, Secretary Rachel Hesse, Treasurer- Seth Houts, Reporter Kylie Snyder, Sentinel Lindsey Walls, Student Advisor Courtney Dickie and member Cami Hellwarth. 

The team placed second at sub-districts, which then qualified them for the district competition, held at Hardin Northern High School on December 1st. At districts, the team placed fifth. The team will not move on to the state competition.