Tag: nmpf dairy scholarship

NMPF Accepting Applications for 2026 Scholarship Program

Posted on by Rachel Ravencraft

The National Milk Producers Federation is now accepting applications for its National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program for the 2026-2027 academic year.

NMPF annually awards scholarships to outstanding graduate students (enrolled in master’s or doctoral programs) who are actively pursuing dairy-related fields of research of immediate interest to NMPF member cooperatives and the U.S. dairy industry at large.

NMPF encourages graduate students pursuing research with direct benefit to milk marketing cooperatives and dairy producers to apply. Applicants do not need to be NMPF members to qualify. Recommended fields of study include but are not limited to: Agriculture Communications and Journalism, Animal Health, Animal and/or Human Nutrition, Bovine Genetics, Dairy Products Processing, Dairy Science, Economics, Environmental Science, Food Science, Food Safety, Herd Management, and Marketing and Price Analysis.

NMPF must receive applications no later than Friday, April 24. To apply, or for more information, please visit the NMPF website.

The National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Fund funds the program. If you would like to support the scholarship fund, please consider a donation here: https://donate.stripe.com/eVa7th6v18VcaT6144

Virtual Scholarship Raffle Now Live

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The NMPF’s annual scholarship fundraising raffle is now live! Our new online format allows for wide opportunity to support the NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship program, which is traditionally touted each year at NMPF’s in-person annual meeting but now expanded to ensure broader participation. The raffle can be accessed at go.rallyup.com/NMPFRaffle2021. Tickets may be purchased through Nov. 30 and the raffle drawing will occur Dec. 1. Prizes this year include $750 and $500 American Express gift cards, a $250 Target gift card, a Cabot Creamery Premium Gift Box, a $100 Kansas City Steak gift card, and more.

The scholarship program supports Master’s and Ph.D. students who are conducting research important to dairy farmers. The 2021 recipients are researching ways to predict metritis cure as a path to reducing antimicrobial use in dairy cattle; the stimulation of microbial protein synthesis by branched volatile fatty acids; and welfare implications of caustic paste disbudding and pain mitigation for dairy calves.

The scholarship program is largely funded through the raffle fundraiser, so your ticket purchases are immensely appreciated.

Sustaining this program means ensuring that critical research benefiting the entire dairy community can continue.

2021 Scholarship Winners Announced

Posted on by Theresa Sweeney

The NMPF Scholarship Committee has selected three graduate students to receive scholarships as part of the 2021 NMPF National Dairy Leadership Scholarship Program. These students are conducting research in areas that will benefit dairy cooperatives and producers. Scholarships were awarded to:

  • Alycia Drwencke, a Ph.D. candidate in Animal Behavior at the University of California – Davis, whose research focuses on the welfare implications of caustic paste disbudding and pain mitigation for dairy calves.
  • Paulo Menta, a Ph.D. candidate in Animal Science at Texas Tech University, whose research focuses on predicting metritis cure as a path to reducing antimicrobial use in dairy cattle.
  • Kelly Mitchell, a Ph.D. candidate in Nutrition at Ohio State University studying the stimulation of microbial protein synthesis by branched volatile fatty acids.