Six Tennessee Students Win Beef Heifer Scholarships – Morning Ag Clips –

PUBLISHED ON January 30, 2025
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — 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 18, 2025, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The Heifer Initiative focuses on the cost-sharing of beef cattle for youth. First-place winners of each age division are awarded $2,000 and a 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 Hart, TCA Director of Youth Programs and Outreach. “We can 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.”
Mason Harris of Unicoi County won first place in the Youth Division and Emma Teeple of White County placed second. Levi Shults of Unicoi County received first place in the Junior High Division and Kara Brooks of Smith County placed second. Jackson Overbay of Hamblen County won first place in the Senior Division and Caden McKnight of Monroe County received second.
“Winning the Youth Beef Heifer Initiative Scholarship is a big deal for me,” said Jackson Overbay, first-place senior high winner. “It will assist me in purchasing a quality heifer to keep improving my herd genetics.”
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. The application for the 2026 Beef Heifer Initiative Scholarship will be available in the fall of 2025.
“I am thankful to be selected as the first-place winner in the Youth Division of the Youth Beef Heifer Initiative Scholarship,” said Mason Harris, Unicoi County. “I was so surprised when I learned that I won the award, and I am very appreciative. I look forward to using this scholarship money on a show heifer to grow my herd.”
TCA was founded in 1985 and has more than 00 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.
–Melinda P. Hart, Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association
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