Members of the American Feed Industry Association’s (AFIA) Equipment Manufacturers Council (EMC) Scholarship Fund announced the donation of $78,000 to IFEEDER, a non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining the future of food and feed production through education and research. The announcement was made at the 2013 edition of the EMC Conference, held in Amelia Island, Fla.
“It’s very important to create the workforce and talent that will push the feed industry forward in the future,” said Matt Schuster, Laidig System’s vice president for sales and EMC subcommittee member. “Our subcommittee and IFEEDER have similar goals and this partnership will help bring young people to the industry.”
While historically the EMC subcommittee offered one annual $2,500 scholarship to the Kansas State University feed program, under the new arrangement, two additional $2,500 scholarships will go to two yet-to-be-determined universities. These new institutions will be vetted by a stakeholder committee to determine if their values align with AFIA’s core principles.
“It’s exciting to see the feed industry and its member companies making such generous donations and efforts to bring new talent into the feed industry,” says Ken Thomas, IFEEDER’s executive director. “As public funding continues to decline, the private sector will increasingly need to provide funds for feed research and education – and every donation counts.”
