Agricultural Communication Scholarships

Purdue Agricultural Communication awards scholarship awards to outstanding students thanks to the support of our donors.

We are now accepting applications for the 2024 awards and the application information appears below. The application deadline for all the scholarships listed on this page is February 16.

Please note that these scholarships are not found in the university scholarship site.

To apply for other Purdue University and College of Agriculture scholarships, visit the Purdue Scholarship Universe website.

Find more information about Purdue College of Agriculture scholarships.

Agricultural Communication offers scholarship awards to students at all levels.

Tom Budd Indiana Prairie Farmer Outstanding Freshman in Agricultural Communication Award

This award recognizes a qualified incoming freshman based on scholarship, extracurricular activities, and commitment to the Agricultural Communication program at Purdue. The winner receives a plaque and a $500 scholarship award. In addition, the student will be interviewed for a feature story in Indiana Prairie Farmer upon arriving to campus in the fall.

2024 Tom Budd Scholarship Application (pdf)

RICHARD AND CARMEN ALEXANDER Outstanding Sophomore in Agricultural Communication Award

This award recognizes and rewards a qualified sophomore's contributions to the public understanding of agriculture, outstanding academic performance, and involvement in professional and community activities. Applicants must be sophomores (at least 30 credits and no more than 60) in the fall of the next year that they apply. The winner receives a $500 scholarship award. Applications require a 250-word statement, resume, and academic transcript.

2024 Alexander Scholarship application (pdf)

Farmer's Exchange Outstanding Junior in Agricultural Communication Award

This award recognizes and rewards a qualified junior for outstanding academic performance, outstanding journalistic performance and potential, professional and community involvement, and contributions to the public understanding of agriculture. Applicants must be juniors (at least 60 credits and no more than 90) in the fall of the next year that they apply. The winner receives a $500 scholarship award. Applications require a 250-word statement, resume, and academic transcript.

2024 Farmer's Exchange Scholarship application (pdf)

Farm Bureau Outstanding Senior in Agricultural Communication Award

This award recognizes and rewards a qualified senior for outstanding contributions to the public understanding of agriculture, academic performance, and involvement in professional and community activities. Applicants must be a seniors (at least 90 credits) in the fall of the next year that they apply. The winner receives a $500 scholarship award. Applications require a 250-word statement, resume, and academic transcript.

2024 Farm Bureau Scholarship application (pdf)

2023 Scholarship Recipients

Congratulations to the Agricultural Communication students who were awarded these scholarships.

Jordyn Wickard

Richard and Carmen Alexander Outstanding Sophomore in Agricultural Communication Award
Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Jordyn Wickard hails from Greenfield, Indiana, where her passion for agriculture began. She grew up on her family's homestead farm, raising and showing registered Angus cattle, Boer goats, and market lambs at the county, state, and national levels. She is interested in a wide range of avenues within communications, including broadcasting, digital media, and marketing. She hopes to find a career that is rooted in the livestock industry, sharing the word about the agriculture to fellow agriculturalists.

Mina Reising

Farmer's Exchange Outstanding Junior in Agricultural Communication Award
Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Although Mina Reising is originally from southern Indiana, she calls a homestead in rural Lafayette home. She has always had a passion for all things communication, as well as a love for agriculture, which makes agricultural communication the perfect fit. Reising said that coming to Purdue has allowed her to grow proficient in the skills required by the major, and has allowed her to discover an interest in agronomy — specifically, a fascination with crop science. In the future, she hopes to combine her growing agronomic knowledge with her passion for communication as she works toward a career in agricultural journalism.

Kate Mattingly

Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Kate Mattingly is an agricultural communication major with a minor in agricultural systems management from Frankfort, Indiana. Her professional interests are digital marketing and photography. Her career goals are to expand her own photography and videography business.

Allison Lund

Farm Bureau Outstanding Senior in Agricultural Communication Award
Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Allison Lund is an agricultural communication major from Cambridge, Wisconsin. She has gained experience in agricultural journalism and farm broadcasting during her time at Purdue, and she hopes to pursue a career in agricultural journalism. More specifically, she would like to work for a farm publication in Indiana.

Melanie Hasler

Farm Bureau Outstanding Senior in Agricultural Communication Award
Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Melanie Hasler is an agricultural communication major from Hope, Indiana. She enjoys working on projects surrounding social media advocacy for agriculture. She also enjoys making promotional videos and photography. She hopes to work for an agency or business with a focus on agriculture.

Erin Anderson

Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Erin Anderson in an agricultural communication major from Rankin, Illinois. She is interested in media production, TV/radio, broadcasting, public relations, and social media. Upon graduation, she hopes to work for a national agriculture broadcasting network. With a network on-air position, she would be able to conduct interviews while traveling the country to speak with various industry professionals about their specific areas of expertise. She said it would be ideal for her to inform the public about the importance of the industry and the monumental impact it has on their daily lives. She said she hopes her voice will provide confidence in the broadcasting industry and allow others to become more involved in the field of agriculture itself.

Previous Recipients

2022

Ainsley Kratochvil
Richard and Carmen Alexander Outstanding Sophomore in Agricultural Communication Award and Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Ella Newcomb
Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Allison Lund
Farmer's Exchange Outstanding Junior in Agricultural Communication Award and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Melanie Hasler
Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Tomi Harrod
Farm Bureau Outstanding Senior in Agricultural Communication Award and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Bella Monroe
Farm Bureau Outstanding Senior in Agricultural Communication Award and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Award

Mina Reising
Tom Budd Outstanding Freshman in Agricultural Communication Award (sponsored by Indiana Prairie Farmer)

Allison Lund
Outstanding Sophomore in Agricultural Communication Award (sponsored by the Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Fund)

Mallori McGraw
Outstanding Sophomore in Agricultural Communication Award (sponsored by the Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Fund)

Tomi Harrod
The Farmer's Exchange Outstanding Junior in Agricultural Communication Award and Agricultural Communication Outstanding Junior Award (sponsored by the Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Fund)

Claire Baney
Agricultural Communication Outstanding Junior Award (sponsored by the Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Fund)

Laura Barrett
Indiana Farm Bureau Outstanding Senior in Agricultural Communication Award and Agricultural Communication Outstanding Senior Award (sponsored by the Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Fund)

Kari Slagel
Indiana Farm Bureau Outstanding Senior in Agricultural Communication Award and Agricultural Communication Outstanding Senior Award (sponsored by the Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Fund)

Kirsten Mehling
Agricultural Communication Outstanding Senior Award (sponsored by the Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Fund)

Macey Orme
Agricultural Communication Outstanding Senior Award (sponsored by the Richard and Carmen Alexander Agricultural Communication Fund)