Scholarships

The Montana Feed Association is a nonprofit organization comprised of feed manufacturers, feed dealers, ingredient suppliers and other allied industries that are committed to supply the Montana agricultural community with quality and safe products for the livestock industry.

The Montana Feed Association is offering THREE scholarships in the fall of 2023 from a fund of $5000! Individual scholarship amounts awarded will be determined by the MFA interview committee.

Annually, we offer scholarships to Montana State University College of Agriculture students who have completed a minimum of 60 credit hours. The JOHN PATERSON scholarship is offered to a student that has shown a commitment to increasing their knowledge of and desire to be actively involved in production agriculture after graduation. The MONTANA FEED ASSOCIATION scholarships are offered to a student that has shown a commitment to increase their knowledge of, and desire to be actively involved with agri-business after graduation. We invite qualified students to apply for either of these scholarships.

Fall 2023 Deadline– November 27th, 2023

For additional questions please contact:

Tillie Goddard jgoddard@landolakes.com and/or (406) 930-0091

Cole Morrison cole.morrison@northwestfcs.com and/or (406) 591-4586

Scholarship Application

Learn more

Sponsors for Scholarships

In addition to the corporate sponsors below, our August Annual Meeting includes a Live Tri-Tip Auction, Silent Auction, and golf and fishing event contests. Many of these proceeds are donated by individuals who believe in the future of our industry.

2022 Fall Scholarship Recipient

John Paterson Scholarship winner – Garrett Jones

I was born and raised on a family farm and feedlot operation North of Miles City, MT. We have recently transitioned to a small cow/calf herd, raising commercial and registered Black Angus cows. My future plans after school are to grow the registered herd to sell genetics at a larger scale

2022 Fall Scholarship Recipient

MFA Scholarship winner – M’Kenzie Kirchner

My name is M’Kenzie Kirchner and I am a second semester sophomore at Montana State University. My major is Animal Science with the goal of becoming a large animal veterinarian. I am originally from Toledo, Oregon where my love for animals and the agricultural industry started. I grew up competing in the Lincoln County 4-H Program, NorthWest Youth Rodeo Association, and Oregon High School Rodeo Association. Through these various programs I found my passion for large animals. Unfortunately my community has very little agriculture besides logging and fishing so my opportunities to experience the other aspects of the industry were little to none. This was one of the reasons I chose Montana State University. Montana has so many agricultural opportunities and I can not wait to experience more sectors of the industry. This experience helped me realize how important it is to continue to spread the love for agriculture to the younger generations, as succession is one of the biggest obstacles of the agricultural industry. I didn’t grow up on a ranch, or have parents involved in the agricultural field, however, I believe that it is such an important industry to not only our country but the entire world. Through becoming a large animal veterinarian I hope to continue to educate and inspire people to support the agricultural community as well as improve animal agriculture by improving the health and genetics of large animals. My future plans are to graduate Montana State University with a Bachelors of Animal Science. I then want to apply to a veterinary school to become a large animal veterinarian, specializing in reproduction and genetics. I want to thank the Montana Feed Association for their support in furthering my higher education so that I can help support the agriculture industry and community through my career.

2022 Fall Scholarship Recipient

MFA Scholarship winner – Nyssa Schairer

Hello my name is Nyssa Schairer, I grew up in western Montana on my family's farm. We run a greenhouse, truck garden, hay operation, swine operation, and beef cattle feedlot. While in middle school, I started my own herd of angus and shorthorn-angus cross cattle, that I’m continuing to grow while in college. I am currently attending Montana State University where I am studying animal science on a pre-veterinary track. After finishing my undergrad degree, I plan on attending Washington State University for my doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. I want to come back to Montana to be a large animal veterinarian.