2020 Ag Scholarship recipients excited to be a part of the future of agriculture

She explained that she first heard about the scholarship last year from one of her instructors at Lethbridge College, where she spent two years studying Plant and Soil Sciences.

“He [her instructor] invited me to come to the event [scholarship dinner] last year, just to watch the recipient last year, who was Lauren [Machacek],” she said, adding the money will go towards her tuition.

“I’ve been working part-time throughout my studies so far, so it’s going to really help me focus more on community involvement and being more involved with Aggies Club at the University [of Lethbridge] and be able to invest more time into the agricultural community instead of needing to work all the time.”

Adams is currently a post-diploma student in Agricultural Studies at the University of Lethbridge.

She said she’s not 100 percent sure what exactly she will be doing when finished school but plans to work somewhere in the field directly with producers and on “trying to improve the way we grow food”.

“One of the greatest things that I find about agriculture is the amazing communication between people [and] I really see that increasing through into the future and just see a lot more collaboration between the different disciplines; livestock, crop production, producing, all the way down the chain. I feel like there’s going to be a lot more communication and connection between that.”

Last year’s recipient Lauren Machacek presenting the scholarships to Adams and Witdouck (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

Geni Witdouck is currently a fourth-year student at the University of Saskatchewan, working towards a marketing degree. She told LNN that it’s “quite rewarding” to be one of two students chosen to receive the scholarship, considering how many young students there are in the field of agriculture.

Like Adams, she said the $10,000 will go towards her tuition, but she also has other plans.

“I’m also interested in attending a conference in Calgary called Advancing Women in Agriculture. I think it’s a very empowering conference to go to,” she said.

“You get to connect with so many different women in the industry and kind of hear their backgrounds and advice they have for young students entering the industry.”
Witdouck, who grew up on a farm by Picture Butte, said there’s a lot of changes happening within the industry right now.

“I think one of the more incredible sides of agriculture is agriculture technology…I think agriculture technology is really going to take off and we’re going to see a lot more of maybe autonomous tractors in the future,” she remarked.

Conveniently enough, Thursday night’s keynote speaker was professional agrologist, entrepreneur and international consultant Robert Saik, who is also the CEO of DOT Autonomous Robotic Farm Solutions.

Witdouck said she hopes to work in the field of agriculture technology when she completes her studies.

“I’ve had a couple of experiences working with digital agriculture platforms, so I’m really interested in finding a job in that area.”

The scholarship comes from a partnership between the Rotary Club of Lethbridge East and Exhibition Park.

by Justin Goulet

2020 Ag Scholarship recipients excited to be a part of the future of agriculture

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