Apply now - $25k in pork industry scholarships

Oct 25, 2024
By Farms.com

Pursue Ag careers with NPPC scholarships

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is excited to announce the opening of the 2025 Lois Britt Memorial Pork Industry Scholarship application period. This prestigious scholarship, supported by CME Group and the National Pork Industry Foundation, grants ten $2,500 scholarships each year to college students who are poised to take leadership roles within the pork industry.

NPPC President Lori Stevermer highlighted the significance of nurturing new talent - “The strength of America’s pork industry lies in the hands of its future leaders.” This scholarship program is crucial for empowering students who are eager to contribute to the pork industry’s future.

Candidates must be undergraduate students enrolled in a two-year swine program or a four-year agriculture college. They are evaluated based on their essay responses to issues and potential solutions within the pork industry. The chosen recipients will be celebrated at the National Pork Industry Forum in Orlando, Florida, in March 2025.

The scholarship honors Lois Britt, a former NPPC board director and a passionate supporter of agricultural development during her tenures at the North Carolina Cooperative Extension and Smithfield Hog Production.

Interested students should apply by December 13, 2024. For more information, contact Jacob Sterle, NPPC’s Director of Industry Resource Development, via website – Click Here

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.