NEAFA would like to take a moment and continue 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. This month’s highlight is of Logan Mills, of Canastoa, NY. Mills is currently a freshman studying plant science at SUNY Cobleskill Ag & Tech. “During our third week of school, we jumped right into soil science, which I enjoy,” said Mills. “I’m taking botany, and I have a couple of general education classes as well. The ag classes that I have right now are really great. I love Cobleskill. Everyone knows each other, I already have a big group of friends. I feel like I get more learning here than elsewhere because of how hands on it is; there are lab classes every day, I get to go outside to look for plants for botany, it’s all just really amazing.”
Many in NEAFA are familiar with Mill’s family, given his mother, Jenny Mills, and her previous role of President of NEAFA. “I come from a family owned small to mid-size dairy in Central New York,” said Logan Mills. “I also own 40 head of sheep (Suffolk), which I bring to a couple of shows. This year we went to the All American Sheep Show and the NYS Fair. While I’ve worked with animals my whole life, I fell in love with plants four years ago. I started working for a friend’s vegetable farm during the summers. In fact, he’s now my dorm mate. I liked helping out picking, and then I started doing jobs in greenhouses. I’m hoping to get into agronomy after I finish school. I want to go to different farms, see what’s wrong, and know how to fix it. There’s a weed identification class that I’m psyched about too. I’m definitely looking forward to bring some of the education back home. I don’t know if I want to go back to the farm right away, after graduation. I want to explore what’s out there for a while, I would love to work for an agronomy company and see what that’s like. But I really do want to bring a lot of it home too.”
Mills learned about the scholarship through his mother. “My mom, Jenny mills, works closely with NEAFA,” said Logan Mills. “I’ve known about it with 4h and being in the ag world too. I know that they get together to lobby to help with the future of agriculture, and that’s so important. Ag education is really important too, I’m looking into minoring in ag ed next semester. It’s not just the farm kids that should know how vital agriculture is. I think helping inner city children know where their food is produced, and how much work goes into it is important too.”
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.