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October is National Pork Month and Iowa is the number one pork producing state in the u.s.. Nearly one-third of the nation’s pigs are raised right here in Iowa. 

For the second year, the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation is encouraging students to dive deeper into the science of agriculture by offering their science and pork scholarship contest. Students in grades six through twelve are eligible for a two hundred dollar scholarship if they conduct research on anything related to pigs, pork, pig production, and swine care. 

“The more that we can get students interested in science, and the research of science that process. I think the better we’re going to be as farmers, the better we’re going to be as land stewards, the better we’re going to be as agriculturalists, and even the better will be as consumers,” says Will Fett, Executive Director of the Iowa Agriculture Literacy Foundation. 

The topics are endless. Fett says past projects have focused on anything from the sanitation practices inside the hog barn to swine behavior and the quality of feed given to the swine, but you do not necessarily need a pig barn to conduct research. 

“One of the new fields of research that they’re trying to work on is the odor from pig barns, and there’s a lot of different things. by simply building a tree barrier. You between the barn and, and neighboring property you can significantly decrease the odor. So you don’t have to have a pig barn to test odors you could you could do odor tests through a variety of different plant materials, and that could be applied then to a swine operation facility,” says Fett.

The top 10 applications will receive the $200 scholarship and students are open to apply through January 29th. 

If you are interested in applying for the scholarship visit: https://form.jotform.com/IowaAgLiteracyFoundation/science-pork-2021