(MURFREESBORO) Six Tennessee students were awarded the Youth Beef Heifer Initiative Scholarship, sponsored by the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association (TCA) and Farm Credit Mid-America (FCMA). They received this award at the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association Youth Awards Banquet sponsored by Kubota Tractor Corporation, on Saturday, January 21, 2023, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Scholarship Recipients

• Tommi Joy Hensley of Unicoi County won first place in the Youth Division
• Morgan Shamblin of McMinn County placed second
• Hannah-Jane Davis of Giles County received first place in the Junior High Division
• Ethan Giles of Anderson County placed second
• RuthAnn Johns of Rutherford County won first place in the Senior Division
• Caden Delaney of Henry County received second 

The Heifer Initiative focuses on cost-sharing of beef cattle for youth. First place winners of each age division are awarded $2,000 and belt buckle sponsored by the University of Tennessee Animal Science, and the second-place winners are awarded $1,000.

“The heifer scholarship initiative is one of the most rewarding programs our association offers to youth,” said Melinda Perkins, TCA Director of Youth Programs and Outreach. “We are able to help the future leaders of our industry by offsetting the cost of purchasing a heifer. This is just one way we can help them get off to the right start in our industry. We are grateful to partner with Farm Credit Mid-America on the heifer scholarship program again this year.”

“I am blessed and grateful to receive the Farm Credit Mid-America/Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association Youth Beef Heifer Initiative Scholarship this year,” said RuthAnn Johns, senior high winner from Rutherford County. “I have recently decided to focus more on the breeding aspect of the cattle industry. With this scholarship, I will be looking to purchase a heifer or bred heifer with genetics that will further my herd and allow for the start of an elite gene pool that my family is working toward.”

This scholarship money is to be put towards the purchase of a beef heifer of their choice from a Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association member within one year of receiving the funds. There are three age divisions: Youth, Junior High, and Senior High.

“I am excited to receive this scholarship. I plan to purchase a Shorthorn or ShorthornPlus heifer to show then use in my herd,” said Caden Delaney, second-place winner from Henry County. “This scholarship has opened the door for a lot of improvements in my herd.”

The application for the 2023 Beef Heifer Initiative Scholarship will be available in the fall of 2023.

TCA was founded in 1985 and has more than 7,000 members from across the state and the southeast. The organization works to provide the cattlemen of Tennessee with an organization through which they may function collectively to protect their interests and work toward the solution of cattle industry problems and to build the necessary goodwill that will bring both governmental esteem and recognition to the industry.