CCA AND AFFILIATES PROUD TO INVEST IN BEEF INDUSTRY LEADERS OF THE FUTURE

by CCA Director of Communications Katie Roberti

The generosity and support that comes from the agricultural community is something special. You see it in the donations that producers make to local food banks. The way farmers and ranchers support their communities year-round. How they support other communities after natural disasters—ranchers are always in line to give to their ranching peers (even ones they have never met) who are facing loss. The level of generosity in agriculture is unique and one of the many reasons I love being part of our industry personally and professionally.

If you are doubtful of this or need a reminder, go to any junior livestock auction or fundraiser this summer, and you will quickly see the type of support I’m talking about on full display. I am also willing to bet if you attend any rural high school’s FFA or senior scholarship banquet at the end of each school year, the number of scholarships given out by agricultural groups and organizations—local farm bureaus and cattlemen’s associations, roping clubs, memorial scholarships from ranch and farm families and more— will stand out.

In the last two years, CCA has awarded over $122,000 in scholarships to students studying agriculture. The hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships over the decades the program has existed is only possible because of the financial donations and time given to the scholarship process from producers, allied industry leaders and supporters across the state.

I’m thankful for all the people who made the scholarships possible when I was a student—the families who started memorial scholarship funds, anyone who purchased a Livestock Memorial Research Fund raffle ticket, the allied industry members who served on the scholarship committee and all the investments producers made to support students like me. It made a difference in my life, and thanks to this continued support, students can apply for CCA scholarships again this year. Applications for the 2023 scholarships went live on July 1 at calcattlemen.org/ scholarships. Any current undergraduate, master, school of law or veterinary student attending or enrolled in a junior college, four-year college, university or law school who graduated from a California high school or is an out-of-state student attending a California college can apply now. While the deadline to submit applications for the 2023 CCA scholarships is not until Oct. 1, I recommend jumping on it early, as many application requirements take time to gather and organize. (Visit the CCA website for the complete list of eligibility requirements).

I know applying for scholarships can be a timely process. Additionally, it can be easy to start doubting if you are a strong enough candidate and eventually talk yourself out of taking the leap to submit an application. However, if you are a student reading this who is on the fence, don’t let those doubts stop you. If you’re not a student reading this but have a child, sibling, grandchild, neighbor or friend you know studying agriculture, please encourage them to apply. Money aside, the experience I gained from the process was well worth the time I put in when I applied for the CCA scholarship for the first time as a sophomore in college. Growing up in Sierra Valley, I was blessed with the support of scholarships from local ag organizations. However, going through CCA’s scholarship process was a new experience for me and one with a few lessons I still remember.

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After applying, I was excited to get an email saying I was selected for an interview. I immediately made plans to be at my scheduled, in-person interview the day before CCA’s 2013 annual convention at the Nugget Resort in Sparks, Nev. I remember walking into the room nervous when I arrived for the interview. Sitting at the interview table when I entered was a mixed panel of producers and industry leaders that I either did not know or had only briefly met. I knew they were all important to the organization though and my interview performance would stay with me. I was highly intimidated.

While the interview probably went just fine, I left the room unconfident about my performance and remember immediately calling my dad to tell him I blew it when the panel asked me something along the lines of, “What do you consider the biggest challenge or obstacle that faces the cattle industry today?”

I can’t remember how I answered the question. It may have been something about too many regulations. What I did not say or mention in the interview was anything about drought. At the time of the interview, California was in its second year of what would turn out to be a five-year drought. Ranchers were concerned and conversations about culling herds were likely top of mind for most.

I’m sure my dad reassured me by telling me my answer was probably acceptable, and I did receive a scholarship that year, but it was a lesson for me. That interview experience pushed me to prepare more for future scholarship and internship interviews. All this to say, you never know what you may gain by just applying. Who knows, without that interview, I may have missed out on working at CCA or getting to work now with many of the people who interviewed me that day.

If you have any questions about the process or eligibility requirements for this year’s scholarships, Maureen LaGrande, my coworker and CCA’s Associate Director of Communications, is only a phone call away. Please call her to learn more and encourage any agriculture students studying at a California college or any who graduated high school in California and are studing agriculture out of state to apply by Oct. 1 at calcattlemen.org/scholarship.