It’s no secret that youth are the future of industry, and West Virginia 4-H’ers and FFA members remind us of that every day. West Virginia University Extension and the WVU Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design are excited to offer more opportunities for those youths to bring their powerful ideas to life.
Applications are open for the second round of the WVU AgTech Mini-Grants. West Virginia 4-H and FFA clubs, groups and individuals ages 14-21 are encouraged to apply.
Provided by a generous donation from two-time Davis College graduate Karen Powell, four $2,000 mini-grants will be awarded to support projects that bring fresh technological ideas to agriculture in either a farm or classroom setting.
“The ideas the students brought to us last year were so much bigger and better than we ever anticipated,” Sarah Owen, WVU Extension 4-H youth agriculture program coordinator, said. “They looked beyond simply addressing a problem on their farm or in their classroom, and they considered how the grant funding could be used to help their communities and beyond. We are so proud of these youths and can’t wait to see what innovative ideas come in this year.”
This grant allows students to be creative and identify a modernization, upgrade, new technology or innovation that can make their farm or classroom more successful.
For the purposes of this grant, “technology” could include (but is not limited to) projects related to data loggers, laptops, weather stations, drones, precision agriculture, data management, field mapping and more.
The projects selected to receive the mini-grants in 2022 were artificial insemination for improving cattle genetics by Audrey Kent, Drones on pasture and cropland to reduce erosion by Austin Kent, custom farm fabrication services by Harley Knotts, and cutting-edge fabrication by a team from Moorefield FFA led by Joseph Riggleman and Wesley Titus.
“I think this program helps a lot, it gives youths the chance to try something that they have been wanting to try,” said Knotts, a 2022 mini-grant recipient.
Applicant criteria, project timelines and grant specifics can be found on the WVU AgTech Mini-Grant Program webpage. The deadline to apply is Dec. 10, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.
If you want to learn more about WVU Extension, visit extension.wvu.edu or follow @WVUExtension on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.
-WVU-
slk/12/01/23
CONTACT: Sydney Keener
Communications Specialist
WVU Extension
304-293-8986; Sydney.keener@mail.wvu.edu