Photo Provided
By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA
NEAFA continues to highlight the wonderful and industrious winners of our 2026 NEAFA Scholarship for Future Agriculturists, created in conjunction with New York FFA Leadership Training Foundation. Applications are due in January of each year, with the winner being announced in February. October’s highlight is Mason Hill from Candor, NY, and a member of Owego FFA. Hill is a part owner of Highland Hills Family Farm, which started operations in 2022. “It’s a Lowline Angus operation that maxes out around 30 head and 40 acres of pasture,” said Hill. “The family farm is how I first developed my interest in agriculture. That continued during high school with participating in FFA, and through the Animal Science program at the Broome-Tioga County BOCES. I spent my junior and senior years working 2 hours every day with a fully functional multi-use farm. They have angus cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, and chickens.”
Hill is currently a freshman at Cornell University, where he is studying Animal Science. “I enjoy it,” said Hill. “The classes are challenging but interesting, I look forward to my classes. The course material is applicable for when I get home. My domestic biology class for example, I’m learning about the entire anatomy of cattle. You learn to look at the animals in a different way, where you notice things that you didn’t before. Even being at college for only a month and a half, I’ve already learned quite a bit. I’m focused on production agriculture currently, and I’d like to learn more specifics on beef cattle, because that’s where my passion began. I’d also like to participate in more clubs, like the Cornell University Dairy Science club. It’s a very well-established program. While I’m not dairy focused, there are great connections to be made there. A few of us are starting an Agribusiness club right now too. If it gets going in the spring, I’ll be the treasurer for that club. We have twenty members signed up so far.”
Hill learned of the scholarship through his participation with Owego FFA. “I was the chapter officer for FFA at my high school for three years,” said Hill. “It was through FFA that I found the scholarship, one of my ag teachers thought that it would be right up my alley. I’ve gotten to meet some great people through the scholarship process, from NEAFA’s John Clarke to Cornell Professor Tom Overton. It’s more than just a scholarship, you get a chance to meet cool people amd make connections in the industry, which is great.”
NEAFA would like to congratulate all four of the 2026 scholarship winners: Lily Marshman, Mason Hill, Logan Mills, and Clare Titus. Since 2019, NEAFA has partnered with New York FFA Leadership Training Foundation to provide four $1000 scholarships to eligible high school seniors planning to pursue a field of study that will lead to a career in agriculture, with a specific emphasis on animal science, agronomy, agriculture education or agribusiness. The future of agriculture is dependent on our youth, as they will be tasked with some of the most difficult and most challenging issues facing the agriculture community. This scholarship compliments the mission of NEAFA's Good Works Program to support initiatives that enhance opportunities for youth in agriculture.