Banff (Rural Roots Canada) – Nuffield Canada has been awarding life-changing scholarships to people in agriculture, food and farming for decades.

Chair Steve Larocque says the organization sends agribusiness professionals and farmers around the world to explore new ideas, innovations, policies, and practices.

“We support them with our global peer-to-peer network, where they can learn new things from people who are already doing the practices, the innovations,” says Larocque, who adds they can learn that research, bring it home and apply it right here in Canada.

Larocque says scholars from across the country have brought home knowledge that has helped their farms, businesses, organizations, and the agriculture community for generations.

As a result, farms are creating agribusinesses after their research because they want to diversify based on what they have learned and been inspired by.

“They’ve got a farm, they’re grain farming, maybe a bit of vegetables, but all of a sudden they go to learn direct marketing, and all of a sudden they’ve got a (new) path.”

READ MORE:  Nuffield Canada Announces its 2025 Scholars

Larocque says their travels and studies give them insight into the pitfalls, challenges, and opportunities, so they can hit the ground running when they return home with their newfound knowledge.

He says scholars also gain a greater perspective of the world.

“We all have biases. We all have this notion of what farming in the EU might look like or what Brazil does. We just hear it from, let’s say, mainstream media, or we hear it (from other sources).”

He adds you don’t truly gain a full understanding until you visit those places, to the farms, agribusinesses, and governments.

“There’s so much perspective that you gain that you start to understand where we fit, where your business fits in Canada and where Canada fits in the world. And that’s a really important perspective.”

Larocque says there are plenty of reasons why the industry should support the program.

“All those ideas are just waiting for us to go look for, waiting for us to explore and bring home and adapt. There’s nothing quicker on the innovation cycle than finding someone who’s done it, learned the hard things, brought it home, and adapted it rather than reinventing the wheel every time.”

Nuffield Canada is just one of the many chapters worldwide which award dozens of scholarships every year.

To find out more about the Nuffield Canada program, click here.