Two Frederick area youths receive grants for ag businesses

October 09, 2007

FREDERICK, Md. - Two area youths have been awarded $500 grants to help them with their future agricultural endeavors.

The 2007 Agriculture Industry Youth Grants were awarded by the Agriculture Business Council and the Frederick County Office of Economic Development.

The grant winners are Ben Murphy and Kristin Zimmerman.

Ben, 18, is a freshman at Ohio State Agricultural Technical Institute.

His project is to expand his beef cattle business by implementing the practice of Artificial Insemination on his cow herd. Ben is taking classes this semester to learn how to artificially inseminate both beef cattle and swine.

He plans to breed all of his own cows while starting a small business of breeding cows and sows for friends in the area. Ben plans to purchase a semen tank, artificial insemination kit and all the supplies needed this fall to start his business.

Kristin, 14, is the daughter of Clay and Karen Zimmerman.

Kristin's project is to expand her egg laying business by building a larger chicken coop to occupy her growing flock.

Her goals are to make her local egg-laying business more profitable, while learning business management skills, responsibility and money management.

Kristin is in ninth grade at Walkersville High School.

The youth grant is open to any individual from 14 to 18 years of age. The individuals must apply for the grant, and an ag council appointed, three-person selection committee judges those applications and selects two creative entrepreneurial agriculture projects.

|

|

|