An Estevan student is one of four young people from across the province to receive a Saskatchewan Agriculture scholarship this year.
Marci LeBlanc earned a scholarship for $2,000. LeBlanc and her family farm just over 14,000 acres of land in the rural municipalities of Cambria and Estevan.
(Video courtesy of LeBlanc's YouTube channel).
She is a fifth generation farmer on both sides of her family. LeBlanc has witnessed firsthand the hard work and dedication that goes into making a farm operation work.
In her video submission, LeBlanc relates her food story and the impact farming has had on her family, specifically the knowledge that she has gained from her grandfather and parents.
鈥淢y grandfather, who is 83, has witnessed so many changes in our industry. I鈥檓 so lucky to still be farming alongside him today. For me, understanding where our food story started plays a big part in shaping who I am and the role that I play on our farm,鈥� she said.
LeBlanc will be attending the University of Saskatchewan in the fall of 2020 to pursue a degree in animal science.
The scholarship is awarded to Saskatchewan students pursing an agriculture-related education.
鈥淓ach year the submissions to the Agriculture Student Scholarship Program show how passionate the province鈥檚 youth are about the agriculture industry,鈥� said David Marit, the minister of Agriculture. 鈥淭hese young people show how bright the future is for agriculture in Saskatchewan.鈥�
Mackenzie Van Damme from Imperial received $4,000 towards her agriculture-related post-secondary studies as the 2020 grand-prize scholarship winner. Van Damme鈥檚 submission highlighted the importance of agriculture in her community, the evolution of her family鈥檚 grain farm and the unique opportunity producers have to connect with consumers.
Isobel Kinash of Wishart and Makenzie Olson of Tisdale also received scholarships of $2,000 each.
The Agriculture Student Scholarship Program identifies young people who are advocates for agriculture and leverages their passion and ability to tell the story of Saskatchewan agriculture.聽 This scholarship is funded through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a five-year, $388 million investment in strategic initiatives by the federal and provincial governments.
To see LeBlanc鈥檚 video, please visit www.estevanmercury.ca
