SETH I. LARIMORE has been awarded an Air Force ROTC college or university scholarship. The cadet was selected on the basis of comprehensive tests scores, high school scholastic achievement, school officials' evaluations, extra-curricular activities, and community involvement. The scholarship is designed to cover the cost of tuition, textbooks, laboratory and incidental fees, and a non-taxable monthly stipend of at least $300 and up to $500 during the school year. Larimore is the son of Randal M. and Teri L. Larimore of Flora. He will graduate in May from Carroll Jr.-Sr. High School.

Agricultural students from Ivy Tech's Lafayette campus recently participated in the Indiana Young Farmers Association (IYFA) annual conference in Indianapolis. At the conference TITUS MICHAEL of Flora competed in the Farm Business Management contest where students put their skills to the test as they solved farm business related problems during a one hour time period.

SCOTT GUCKIEN of Camden was among students from the agriculture program at Ivy Tech Community College who traveled to Hershey, Pa., to attend the annual National Postsecondary Agriculture Student Organization conference on March 11-14. Over 700 other college agriculture students from around the country were in attendance. Guckien, along with Jake Sutherlin of Fishers, competed in the Soil Specialist contest. Of the 25 teams in competition, Guckien and Sutherlin took second place, beating out Iowa State University. The contest was sponsored by the Soil Science Society of America and ARCPACS.

BENJAMIN "GRAHAM" RIDER of Delphi has been awarded a $263 grant from the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) for the project, "Impact of rotational grazing on species composition in a foot square plot during 21 day rotational grazing cycle May through September 2009." The grant was awarded as part of the NCR-SARE's Youth Grant Program.

The NCR-SARE began a competitive grants program exclusively to fund grants for youth striving for agricultural sustainability. These grants for up to $400 are for on-farm research, demonstration, or education projects by youth ages 8-21.

Research and demonstration projects are for hands-on efforts to explore sustainable agriculture issues and practices.

Thirty projects were selected for funding this year in the region.