Washington County is defined by agriculture with more than 400,000 acres of farmland, or 82 percent of the total land area in the county, affirming it as a center of the Mississippi Delta's economic identity. To invest in the future of Washington County, the Washington County Farm Bureau gifted $52,000 to Mississippi State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) to establish the Washington County Endowed Scholarship and the Washington County Farm Bureau Annual Scholarship.
Mark Looney, president of the Washington County Farm Bureau and '76 Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering alumnus, has committed his life to farming corn, soybeans, and winter wheat in Washington County. He is grateful the Washington County Farm Bureau will contribute to the agricultural legacy of his home county.
"We would like to see young people go to Mississippi State and major in agricultural-related fields. We just want to help students go to college, and we want to help them go to Mississippi State, it being a land-grant university," Looney said.
Of the total gift, $50,000 of the gift will establish the Washington County Farm Bureau Endowed Scholarship, while the remaining $2,000 will fund the Washington County Farm Bureau Annual Scholarship, divided into two 1,000 scholarships annually. The structure ensures sustained support for students well into the future.
The first scholarships will be awarded to students in the coming academic year. Eligible candidates are full time undergraduate students within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, maintaining a minimum 3.0 GPA and residing in Washington County. The scholarships will be awarded annually, with recipients encouraged to engage in the wider agricultural community by attending the annual Mississippi Farm Bureau Convention in Jackson, Mississippi.
"As a part of the American Farm Bureau Federation, we want to do things that promote agriculture. We had some money, and we thought the best thing to do was to pass it back to the Washington County community through these scholarships," Looney said.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, an advocate for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities nationwide, supports agricultural communities partly through revenues from Farm Bureau Insurance. Annually, members from over 2,800 counties across the nation convene to discuss and influence policies impacting their livelihoods.
The Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, the state's largest general farm organization, continuously seeks legislative solutions to enhance farm family life. The Washington County Farm Bureau, with a robust membership of 2,500, chose to support these scholarships primarily through investments in commercial rental property.
Tim Clements, a board member and former president of the Washington County Farm Bureau, highlighted the connection between the support for MSU and the innovative work at the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville, located within the county. MSU experts collaborate there to resolve agricultural challenges and advance industry knowledge.
"We see the benefit of furthering the science of agriculture and believe that the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has done a good job in furthering that vision. We as farmers and producers have all benefitted from the education and research conducted by MSU graduates," Clements said. "We all receive benefits from the work that comes through the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES) branch station in Stoneville. We see a very direct correlation between education, scholarship, and practical benefits for agriculture."
The decision to create these scholarships was unanimous among the Washington County Farm Bureau board members. Clements said the scholarships align with the American Farm Bureau Federation's goal of promoting agriculture education. He said these new scholarships are examples of the organization's commitment to its agricultural community, and its trust in MSU to produce new leaders in agriculture.
"We're happy to help students. The American Farm Bureau Federation sees the benefit of agricultural education and young men and women going into careers in agriculture, whether it's public or private, where they can help the farmers of the future," Clements said.
