(Rural Roots Canada) – The application deadline for the 2026 Nuffield Scholarship program is looming- June 30th.

The Nuffield Canada Scholarship is a prestigious, rural, thought-leadership program available to Canadians who are involved in any aspect of agriculture.

Its goal is to attract mid-career men and women who are ready to challenge themselves by doing 10 weeks of self-directed international travel study to examine and research an agricultural topic they are passionate about.

Once travel is completed, Scholars sum up their findings in a written report and presentation to Nuffield Canada at their annual general meeting.   

This $20,000 scholarship allows its recipients to travel the world. This helps them to cultivate bonds with peers involved in similar fields internationally, bring valued information back to their hometowns to positively benefit themselves, their communities, and their respective agricultural industry as a whole. It’s considered the opportunity of a lifetime for those with a passion for agriculture.   

READ MORE: Nuffield Scholarship Opens Doors to Global Agricultural Leadership

Chair Steve Larocque says he has seen the scholarship transform the lives of those who participate.

“You are introduced to is a process and an experience where you get to travel the world, you get to meet up with people who are like minded in a sense that they’re passionate, they’re ambitious, they’re curious, they’re open minded, and you bring them together,” says Larocque.

He adds that scholars find that suddenly, you’re in this cohort of people from around the world who are all in agriculture.

Larocque says the best testimonials he has heard are from when people realized what they were capable of.

“It just opened up their world and levelled up their game to here (tops), to say, You know what? Maybe I was shy, maybe I was timid, maybe I thought my future looked like this. All of a sudden, I can do everything. I can do anything.”

For more information, head to nuffield.ca.