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AgStar Awards Scholarships to UW-RF Students

DEC. 30, 2005--Several University of Wisconsin-River Falls students are getting paid for their passions as recipients of research scholarships from AgStar Financial Services, which awards a $2,000 scholarship to up to five students a year for their research.

In order to be eligible for the AgStar Scholars program, students must be entering their senior year or fifth year at UW-River Falls and have at least a 3.0 grade point average. In addition, scholarship winners have a good chance at obtaining an internship with AgStar.

Students meet on a weekly basis with agricultural economics Professor Gregg Hadley, who serves as UW-RF AgStar Scholars project coordinator, to check progress of their research projects.

Students share their research with AgStar employees as well as UW-River Falls faculty and students in special presentations each semester. Several of this year's recipients have submitted their research to agriculture publications, and one student is going to present at a national conference in 2006.

Hadley says the research project helps develop the students' critical thinking skills. He also said that students in the AgStar Scholars program will be well-prepared for careers in agriculture.

AgStar serves more than 19,000 clients and manages assets exceeding $3 billion with a team of 450 dedicated members. It provides a full range of services in 69 counties in Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin and remains one of the largest farm credit associations in the nation.

UW-RF participants in the AgStar Scholars program and their research topics are listed by hometown:

Wisconsin :

Arcadia, Wis., Darin Maliszewski   - Project topic to be determined

Brillion, Wis., Amber Horn-Leiterman - Comparing Profitable and Unprofitable High Yielding Dairy Farms

Hixton, Wis., Rachel Ehlert - The Financial Performance of Small Dairy Farms

Manawa, Wis., Lindsay Starr - A Survey of Lending Needs Among Minnesota Horticulture Firms

Mayville, Wis., Michelle Backaus - The Financial Performance of Dairy Farms

Monroe, Wis., Mindy Naef - Repayment Capacity Issues Among Wisconsin Farms

River Falls, Wis., Elsa Arnold - Comparing Profitable and Unprofitable Higher Debt Dairy Farms

Minnesota :

Mazeppa, Minn., Josh Betcher - The Economics of Using Dairy Manure of Cash Grain Farms

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