AMES, Iowa – Karl Kerns, an Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences senior in animal science, has been awarded the 2013 Murray Wise Associates Agriculture Entrepreneurship Scholarship.
Kerns was selected to receive the $10,000 award because of his interest and aptitude for entrepreneurship, his involvement in the Iowa State University Agriculture Entrepreneurship Initiative program and his service as a member of the student advisory team.
Kerns is from Clearfield and grew up on a family farm raising seedstock sows. He traveled to southeast Asia in the summer of 2012 for the U.S. Grain Council and the International Collegiate Agricultural Leadership Program. His work on the farm and his international experience provided first-hand understanding of the need to raise pork using less land.
Kerns developed a business idea focused on reducing feeding costs. After graduation Kerns plans to attend graduate school and focus on porcine reproductive physiology to continue his research and entrepreneurial endeavors.
The Murray Wise Associates Entrepreneurship Scholarship has been endowed by Murray R. Wise and The Wise Family Foundation. The scholarship rewards a senior in the Agriculture Entrepreneurship Initiative for their accomplishments and provides incentive funding for further development of a business concept. For more information on the Murray Wise Associates Agriculture Entrepreneurship Scholarship contact Stacey Noe at snoe@iastate.edu or at 515-294-4945.