The US National Pork Board announced it will offer scholarships to up to 25 students considering a graduate-degree programme in a pig science discipline or planning a career in the pork industry.
“Developing tomorrow’s leaders is one of the critical issues NPB‘s producer leaders identified for the pork industry in 2006,” says Wayne Peugh, NPB president. “The future of our industry depends on a sustainable source of trained human capital.”
In the future it might be hard to find swine industry experts, reports are predicting. “The (pork) industry needs production professionals, managers, researchers, veterinarians, animal scientists, educators and other professionals to remain competitive domestically and internationally,” notes Peugh. “We hope to attract young leaders to our industry by showing them our support and helping them finance their education.”
He says, “We’ve targeted young leaders that are already associated with our industry or agriculture. Through these scholarships we are trying to reach those that may have not yet made up their minds to enter these fields.”
The $2,000-pork industry scholarships will be awarded for the 2006/2007 school year to sophomore, junior and senior undergraduate students.