Sustainable Agriculture & Forestry Scholarship, SE MN

The Application portal for the $5,000 2026 Student Scholarship will be opened on January 7, 2026 and closes on March 31, 2026. The application can be found on the Rochester Area Foundation Scholarship website. Go here to start your application: https://rochesterarea.org/scholarships/apply-for-a-scholarship/

Recipients will be announced on June 1, 2026

The successful candidate will:

✅    have a demonstrated strong interest in and commitment to completely sustainable* agricultural and/or forestry practices,

✅    be committed to protecting and preserving our natural resources and related economic and social conditions,

✅    have strong communication skills and

✅    possess leadership characteristics,

and be interested in pursuing a career in fields related to and advancing practices of sustainable agriculture and/or forestry.

Sustainability embraces many disciplines, methodologies, and institutional practices. Therefore scholarship recipients are those who seek to be exposed to skill and knowledge building about changing environments and human health; energy, climate, and built environments; the power of culture and society; and ethics, economics, and public policy. (This is as described in University of Iowa’s Certificate of Sustainability overview.)

Eligible recipients will enter their College Junior level and higher and come from one of the 11 Southeast Counties of the State of Minnesota (Rice, Goodhue, Wabasha, Steele, Dodge, Olmsted, Winona, Freeborn, Mower, Fillmore, and Houston counties) and attend educational public or non profit private institutions/programs in the five state area of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota.

If you are interested in applying, click this link to the Rochester Area Foundation. This will lead you to the section of their website where you enter your application. You need to look for

1.     Scholarships

2.     Sustainable Agriculture & Forestry Scholarship

Don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions about the scholarship or the process.

Contact:

Dag Knudsen—Fund Supervisor

dag(at)dagknudsen.com      Replace (at) with @

PO Box 180 Lake City, MN 55041

651-345-3800

OR

Margaret Kelley, Community Impact Officer

mkelley(at)rochesterarea.org     Replace (at) with @

12 Elton Hills Drive NW

Rochester, MN 55901

507-424-2402 direct

Office: 507-282-0203

* Sustainable agriculture and forestry is the efficient production of safe, high quality agricultural and forestry products, in a way that… protects and improves the natural environment, the social and economic conditions of farmers and related operations, their employees and local communities, and safeguards the health and welfare of all farmed and natural species.