Award Recognizes the Importance of Preparing Students for a Future in Southern Agriculture

AMVAC®, an American Vanguard® Company, is excited to announce the selection of seven recipients of its 2024 Southern Agriculture Industry Advancement Scholarship, formerly known as the Cotton Industry Advancement Scholarship. 

The winners and the schools they attend are:

• Maranda Hains, Louisiana State University 
• William Tucker LaMastus, Mississippi State University
• Emma McAnally,  Texas Tech University
• Zoë Annabelle Meeks, Texas A&M University
• Bennett Carl Harrelson, Clemson University 
• Megan Mills, Texas Tech University 
• Anna Claire Graves, Mississippi State University

AMVAC is awarding each recipient a $2,000 scholarship to help them pursue their intended careers in agriculture. Career plans for this year’s recipients range from weed science and agronomic research to agricultural autonomy and legislative policy.

“AMVAC is proud to support the education of these highly qualified individuals who are committed to serving in and advancing key areas of agriculture,” says Wen Carter, Marketing Manager at AMVAC. “At AMVAC, we have a full commitment to all of Southern agriculture. That is why we expanded the scope and continue to support this scholarship program.  With young leaders like this moving into our industry, the future of Southern agriculture has never been brighter.” 

Scholarship winners were selected after being nominated by consultants or professors. The student must have also studied or worked in the agriculture industry between 2021 and 2023 and must be a senior in high school or currently enrolled in an agriculture program at an accredited college or university. 

One scholarship recipient, Bennett Harrelson, is enrolled as a third-year PhD student at Clemson University while researching double-cropped soybeans behind corn at the Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville, S.C.  He says the scholarship will be used to expand his knowledge of drones and field mapping to give him an advantage as he applies for positions after graduation.

“I would like to find a career that will enable me to continue to work with growers, to help them be more profitable and strengthen the family farm,” says Harrelson. “I grew up on a small family farm, riding on the tractor with my dad. It’s just in my blood.”

Meeks, a Texas A&M junior majoring in agricultural economics, attended a Texas 4-H Congress while in high school and says the experience ignited her interest in agricultural policy. Last summer she interned in Washington, D.C. with the National Cotton Council.

“That was a really cool moment for me, going from experiencing agriculture on our cotton farm to working in Washington, D.C. and seeing how critical it is that we get legislation passed that supports the agriculture industry,” she says. “I don't know if we're going to get a farm bill by the end of the year, but we need to. We need to put politics aside and understand how necessary this legislation is to the agriculture industry.”

Hains, who is pursuing her master’s degree at Louisiana State University in weed science and researching new herbicides, notes that the scholarship and support of AMVAC is particularly important as she and others strive to build careers supporting the industry and helping farmers.

“Agriculture has always been important, and we need more people coming in to replace those who are retiring,” she says. “This scholarship allows young people to pursue their dream of a career in the industry. I'm very grateful to have been selected for the scholarship and to be allowed to work toward my goals.”