Agriculture Student Scholarship

Eligibility

To be eligible for this scholarship, you must be a Grade 12 student or recent high school graduate (within the past two years) in Saskatchewan, who is planning to take an agriculture-related post-secondary education program beginning in the fall of 2018. We are looking for young people who thinkAG and plan to pursue an exciting career in the industry. Note: Ministry of Agriculture and Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation employees and their immediate family members are not eligible.

How to apply

Applicants must complete the application form and:

produce a creative three-minute video or 1,000-word essay sharing their food story (criteria below);
provide a letter of conditional acceptance to a post-secondary institution; and
provide either a letter of recommendation from a teacher/professor, agriculture industry leader or community leader OR a resume with a cover letter outlining school and/or community involvement.

Note: The application form can be printed and scanned or completed electronically. To complete the form electronically, the most recent version of Adobe Reader is required.

The application deadline is March 1, 2018 and applicants have until April 1, 2018 to submit a copy of their letter of conditional acceptance into their specified college/program. Applications should be submitted electronically to agriculture.scholarship@gov.sk.ca. Applicants can submit videos either by including a YouTube link on the application form, or by attaching a copy of the digital file.

Application theme and criteria

October is Agriculture Month in Saskatchewan; a time to celebrate agriculture and share our stories about food and farming. The theme for the 2017 celebration is Our Food Has a Story. Everyone has an opportunity to tell stories of how food produced on the farm gets to the table, and to recognize the dedicated people it takes along the way to sustainably deliver healthy, affordable and safe food.

Applications to the 2018 scholarship program should be based on the same theme, Our Food Has a Story, while also addressing one or all of the Agriculture Month sub-themes: health and nutrition, affordability, food safety, and sustainability. Everyone has a personal connection with food, and we want to hear about yours! Some examples of food stories are: an explanation on how lentils grown on your farm are shipped to customers in India, how you have adopted technologies on your ranch to protect your livestock and the environment, or what you do to help others understand where their food comes from.

By means of collecting your own research through a behind-the-scenes or on-screen interview, survey, or focus group, you can share and elaborate on at least one other person’s food story while discussing your own. These stories can be drawn from classmates, friends, family or neighbours and must be integrated into your video or essay submission. Please reference this personal communication appropriately.

Finding inspiration

When developing your essay or video, consider the following questions:

How has your experience on a farm, ranch or in an agricultural food business guided your food story?
How has your school, community, family and/or friends influenced your connection with food?
What do you hope to learn during your post-secondary education that will further shape your food story?
How could you use your food story to promote Saskatchewan producers or processors (within the agriculture/ food sectors)?

Note: These questions are meant as a guide, so you are not required to address each of them directly in your application.

Still not sure where to start? Check out these links for some great ideas!

Evaluation process

Videos and written submissions will be judged by a review committee based on:

alignment with the themes provided;
development of ideas;
structure and clarity;
creativity and quality; and
on the integration of others’ food stories.

Leadership qualities and school/community involvement will also be taken into consideration.

The Ministry of Agriculture reserves the right to publish or promote all submissions as deemed appropriate. All personal information collected will not be used for any other purposes and will remain confidential.

Scholarship recipients

Scholarship recipients will be contacted by the Ministry by the end of April 2018. Recipients will need to submit their Official Confirmation of Enrollment to agriculture.scholarship@gov.sk.ca, as issued by their post-secondary institution. The Ministry will disburse the funds upon receipt of this document.

by Government of Saskatchewan

Agriculture Student Scholarship

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