$31,000 In Grants Given to ND FFA Members

The North Dakota FFA Foundation has awarded 31 North Dakota students a $1,000 grant to aid in their agricultural business and/or projects.  The Bakk Farm Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Grant is a program that has given hundreds of thousands to N.D. FFA members and students through the course of its existence.  To be eligible for the grant, a student must be an active ND FFA member and have a business or project in the field of agriculture to apply the earnings towards. The applications are received and judged based on whether a member is beginning or expanding their agricultural project or business.  This year fifteen recipients were awarded a beginning grant and sixteen were awarded an expansion grant.

“These grants are really an incredible resource for members and students across the state,” says Napoleon High School Agricultural Educator, Brian Schneider.  “The $1,000 provided to these students allows them to turn their hobby or passion for agriculture into a business and tangible experience.”

The 31 members who received these funds represent 20 different chapters and towns in N.D.  The grants are made possible from rental income produced by land gifted to the ND FFA Foundation by Fridjov Bakk in 1980.  

“The really neat thing about these grants is reading through the applications we receive,” says Tamra Maddock, Executive Director of the ND FFA Foundation.  “The diversity in projects and businesses is incredible. There are student projects ranging from running community gardens, experimenting with aquaculture, to operating their own production farms.”