2000 PROWL High School

Essay Competition

AGRICULTURE SPELLS BRIGHT FUTURE FOR ESSAY WINNERS


PROWL* winners share $10,000 in scholarships

Markham, ON - June 19, 2000 - Farming's in the future of Grade 13 student Bryce Jackson of Wyoming, ON, author of the grand prize-winning $2,000 essay on the future of agriculture.

"I see a positive future for agriculture, and I'd like to farm sometime," says the 18-year-old student at Lambton Central Collegiate V.I., whose essay on crop production over the next 100 years has won the grand prize in the 2000 PROWL essay competition.

As the top essayist in a field of more than 200 entries from high school students across Ontario, Bryce wins a $2,000 scholarship towards post-secondary education. He plans to pursue a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Agriculture at the University of Guelph in September, and eventually have a farm of his own. In his essay, he predicts that robotic tractors and polymer-coated seeds will soon become a commonplace part of farming. As part of the prize, his school Lambton Central also receives $2,000 towards computer hardware and software.

Four other winners in the hotly-contested competition this year each win $1,500 post-secondary scholarships. They are: Rosalyn Yake, attending Grade 11 at I.E. Weldon Secondary School in Lindsay; Mona Moosavian, attending Grade 12 at Earl Haig Secondary School in Willowdale; Adam Cairns of Keene, ON, attending Grade 13 at Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School and Kemptville College this fall; and Meighan Lung of Tupperville, ON, attending Grade 13 at Wallaceburg District Secondary School and the University of Western Ontario this fall. Other topics included global warming, electronic commerce and communications with the non-farming public.

Valued at $10,000, the annual PROWL Essay Competition is co-sponsored by Cyanamid Crop Protection and the Ontario Corn Producers Association (OCPA). "The future of agriculture depends on the success of young people like Bryce and our other winners," says Darrell Heffernan, corn product manager for Cyanamid Crop Protection. "We value this sponsorship as our way of helping the next generation of farmers."

"With rising tuition costs, this program is an ideal way to help bright young people pursue their interests in agriculture at the post-secondary level," says Terry Boland, director of communications and public affairs at the OCPA.

*PROWL is a registered trademark of American Cyanamid Company

To enter, students submitted a 500-600 word essay answering one of the five following questions:

• What will be the impact of electronic commerce (e-commerce) on agriculture in the 21st century? What role will it play? Discuss its impact on communications, markets, inventory tracking and sales.
• If you were starting a farm, what would it look like? What do you believe would be your biggest challenges?
• In the past 100 years growers have increased both the quality and quantity of their crop through improved crop production. What changes in crop production would you expect to see in the next 100 years?
• If global warming is a reality, how do you see it affecting agriculture in this century?
• How could communications between the general public and the agricultural community be improved?

The essays are now posted at www.farmlinepartners.com or www.ontariocorn.org in the near future. Follow the links above to view the winning essays. Winners will receive their PROWL scholarship at the Ontario Corn Producers' Association Semi-Annual Meeting in London, Ontario in September. For further information please contact:
Darrell Heffernan
PROWL Corn Product Manager
Cyanamid Crop Protection
(905) 470-3924

Terry Boland
Director of Communications and Public Affairs
Ontario Corn Producers' Association
(519) 766-8520

1999 PROWL Essay Competition Winners
1998 PROWL Essay Competition Winners
1997 PROWL Essay Competition Winners

Thank You for Participating!

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