Youth Essay Competition

NATIONAL YOUTH IN FORAGE MANAGEMENT ESSAY

The National Youth in Forage Management Essay focuses on essays written about anything pertaining to grazing management, including but not limited to, personal experiences in grazing management, observation or explanation of grazing practices, livestock management on pasture, fencing or other equipment related to grazing management, plant or animal species response to grazing management, or any other subject matter related to forage management.

There are two categories for participants: I) 6th to 9th Grade, and II) 10th to 12th Grade.
Essays must be original composition of the entrants and can either by typed or legibly hand written.
Individuals participating in this competition will receive a one year student membership to AFGC.
Prize money given for top 2 essays in each category.

Two prizes will be awarded:
• First prize – $100
• Second prize – $50

► For more information and rules click here.

2021 AFGC Youth Essay Competition Sponsor:

2021 AFGC National Youth in Forage Management Essay Contest

Category I

First Place: Audrey Hoien (AR) The Grazing Puzzle
Second Place: Bennett Gordon (SD) Grandma's House

Category II

First Place: Matea Gordon (SD) Fire-fear Not! A Tool to Enhance Our Rangelands
Second Place: Ruth Haile (VA) Novel Endophyte Tall Fescue

2020 AFGC National Youth in Forage Management Essay Contest

Category 1 (under 14)

1st Place: Lina Sturman (St. Ignatius, MT ) Rotational Grazing in my farm
2nd Place: David Greenhalgh (Guide Rock, NE) Why is grazing cattle better than just feeding them grains?

Category 2 (14-18)

1st Place: Caityn Kleffner (Rolla, MO) Winter Forages: The Experience of Silage
2nd Place: Cain Roberts (Hillsborough, NC) My Forage Plan

2019 AFGC National Youth in Forage Management Essay Contest

Category 1 ( age 14 & under)

1st Place: David Greenhalgh ( Guide Rock NE ) Keeping our cattle well fed
2nd Place: Hannah Greenhalgh ( Guide Rock, NE ) Rotational Grazing

Category 2 (age 14-18)

1st Place: Ryan Porter ( Deer Park, WA ) Poor pasture management-my expensive mistake
2nd Place: Marie Knepper ( Cascade, IA ) Endophyte

Category 3 (age 19-22)

1st Place: Savanah Hortsmann ( Stewartville, MN ) Teaching an old farm new tricks
2nd Place: Mason Blinson (Stillwater, OK ) Efficiency and effectiveness of managing pastures

2018 AFGC National Youth in Forage Management Essay Contest

Category 1(age 14 & under)

1st place: Sydney Hamilton (Hillsboro, Ohio) - Raising 4-H Broilers the Way Nature Intended
2nd place: Viktoria Scharf (Purcellville, Virginia) - Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue
3rd place: Olivia M. Klotz (Lexington, Kentucky) - The Cow Jumped Over the Fence

Category 2 (age 14-18)

1st place: Leah Scharf (Purcellville, Virginia) - Graze 300 for Small Ruminants
2nd place: Jake Tower (Dubois, Indiana) - Helping Dirt Stay Put
3rd place: Nathan Soder (Petersburg, Pennsylvania) - Importance of Not Overgrazing

Category 3 (age 19-22)

1st place: Tony W. Rice (Mount Pleasant Mills, Pennsylvania) - Technology & Grazing: A New Horizon of Opportunities
2nd place: Robert Sears (Knoxville, Tennessee) - Biotechnology in Forages
3rd place: Sarra Wolfe (Mount Berry, Georgia) - Don’t Forget About the Calves

2017 AFGC National Youth in Forage Management Essay Contest

Category 19-22

1st Benjamin Grismer

Category 14-18

1st Jake VanDergrift
2nd Alex Teutsch
3rd Katherine Haile

Category 14 & Under

1st Jake Tower, IN
2nd Seth Wilbanks
3rd Collin Teutsch

2016 AFGC National Youth in Forage management Essay Contest

Category 19-22

1st Brad Hogshead, OH
2nd Amber Sattleberg, OH
3rd Marissa Farraj, OH

Category 14-18

1st Cole Diggens, MO
2nd Kailey Bailey, LA
3rd Westin Cobb, LA

Category 14& Under

1st Jake Tower, IN

2015 AFGC National Youth in Forage Management Essay Contest

Category 14 & Under

1st Jake Tower, Indiana
2nd Krobin Leddy, South Dakota

Category 14-18