Kelsey Foster and Paige Wacker, University of Nebraska–Lincoln horticulture and agronomy majors respectively, were awarded 2016 Western Seed Association scholarships at the WSA Banquet in Kansas City on Nov. 7. The WSA scholarships are awarded based on scholarship and an interest in the seed industry.
Foster grew up near Berwyn, Nebraska on a family farm that specializes in the seed production of native grasses and cover crops. After attending Broken Bow High School, she came to Nebraska to study horticulture and entrepreneurship in the Honors Program.
She is a teaching assistant to David Lambe for the agribusiness entrepreneurship course and to Don Lee for the genetics course. After graduation Foster plans to return to the family farm and increase seed production of grasses, wildflowers and covercrops, and incorporate livestock grazing management into the fields and pastures.
Wacker, an agronomy major, grew up on a family farm near Wayne, Nebraska. She has worked in the Stewart Seed Laboratory assisting in research projects. She interned at CSS Farms where she learned about potato production.
Wacker was selected to be a mentor in the Nebraska Corn Growers Association mentoring program. Her plans after graduation are to obtain an agronomy position that allows her to work with farmers and assist in finding new solutions to their challenges.