Laura Bell, Palmersville, Tenn., and Austin Woods, Friendship, Wis., have been selected as the 2016 recipients of the Fred Stout Experience Awards.
The fund supporting these awards was created in 2000 in memory of Fred J. Stout Sr., Mt. Carmel, Ill., a lifelong Jersey breeder and member of the Jersey Marketing Service staff from 1978 to 1997. Stout was instrumental in the growth of JMS marketing activities, and later added duties as a type evaluator and in customer field service for the American Jersey Cattle Association (AJCA).
Stout believed that the best learning experiences happen in the everyday world. These awards honor that conviction by providing financial support for two paid internships each year, one on-farm and the other with Jersey Marketing Service.
JMS Internship Recipient: Austin Woods
Austin Woods will begin his internship with Jersey Marketing Service in mid-May. He will assist with preparation, staging and wrap-up work for the company's public auction, online and private treaty sales including Ohio's Wayne-Holmes Invitational Sale on May 30 in Wooster, and the 59th National Heifer Sale, July 2 in San Diego, Calif.
Austin is a fourth-generation Jersey breeder. He has grown up working in all phases of dairy operations at Woodstock Dairy, established in 1911 by his great-grandfather in Tillamook County, Oregon. The Woodstock herd was relocated two years ago to Wisconsin, and Austin now balances working on the dairy with his studies in the agribusiness/science technology program at Fox Valley Technical College.
His show experience with Registered Jerseys™ started at age 5 at the Tillamook County Fair, then continued over a decade of 4-H work that culminated in winning 4-H Supreme Champion at the Oregon State Fair with three different cows in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He now owns 11 head, including his 2015 Pot O'Gold Sale purchase which is currently the highest genomic indexed animal in the Woodstock herd.
Austin earned varsity letters and MVP awards in football, basketball and baseball at Nestucca High School, in addition to being selected first team all-league defense in football. After graduation, he did seasonal work at the Tillamook cheese plant and in the construction industry, and was employed by Shirhar Farms Inc., a supplier of custom field work.
Austin was a member of the fourth class of Jersey Youth Academy in 2015. After finishing his degree, he plans to work as a dairy herd manager, then return to the family farm.
Farm Experience Recipient: Laura Bell
Laura Bell's internship supported by the Fred Stout Experience Fund will be at Marcoot Jersey Creamery, Greenville, Ill.
Laura is a junior majoring in animal science at the University of Tennessee at Martin, and commutes to campus while doing the evening milking and A.I. breeding at her family's Bell Farms, which has four herds with animals bearing the Bellview, ClearVu, GrandVu and Rebel prefixes.
A fourth-generation Jersey breeder, Laura has a long record of accomplishment in 4-H and FFA at the regional, state and national levels. Production combined with type earned Laura the Premier Performance trophy at the Tennessee Junior Dairy Show in 2013. That cow, Rebel Farm Mecca Xcited 194, and her daughter, Rebel Farm Headline Xylia 246, have been Laura's standout performers and their descendants form the backbone of her herd today.
Laura was president of the 4-H honor club in 2013 and a delegate to the National 4-H Dairy Conference. She has also served as secretary-treasurer of the Tennessee Jersey Cattle Club and her FFA chapter, and is currently a member of UTM Cattlemen, SOMA and Collegiate 4-H.
After graduation, Laura plans to hone and expand her herd management experience by working for another farm, then return to the family farm and build a creamery for on-farm processing.
About Jersey Youth Programs
Previous recipients of the Fred Stout Experience Award are Tara Bohnert, Illinois (2003), Allison Waggoner, South Carolina (2004), Dan Bauer, Wisconsin (2005), Aaron Horst, Pennsylvania (2006), Jacob Pieper, Maryland (2007); Katie Albaugh, Maryland (2008); Brady Core, Kentucky (2009); Ivy Roberts, Florida, and Kim Wilson, Missouri (2010); Amy Maxwell, Iowa, and Joseph Fjarlie, Wisconsin (2011); Robert McGarry, Vermont, and Lyman Rudgers, New York (2012); Meagan Bolen, Ohio, and Wyatt Smith, Minnesota (2013); Meagan Chittenden, New York, and Olivia Pearson, North Carolina (2014); and Gerret Boer, Texas, and Tyler Stiles French, South Carolina (2015).
The Fred Stout Experience Fund is one of nine educational awards for Jersey youth managed by the American Jersey Cattle Association, Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Contributions to these funds are recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as 501(c)(3) tax deductible charitable gifts and may be made at any time during the year.
Applications for 2016-17 academic scholarships are posted on the USJersey website and are due July 1, 2016.
Applications for the 2017 Stout Experience Awards are accepted through December 1, 2016. For more information, visit USJersey.com, or contact the AJCA Development Department at (614) 861-3636 or email info@usjersey.com.
4.04.2016
