UMES receives Perdue Farms Foundation grant, supports agriculture/technology careers

SALISBURY, MD.-  Getting better, not just bigger.

That’s Perdue Farms mission as they continue to push for bigger, providing $50,000 in funding to help further students education at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

I’m told, this is crucial as many attending the university are first generation students. “And so a scholarship of this nature really makes it a major thing for our students to be able to come to college and have a four year experience and get to experience the dream of an education,” said President Dr. Heidi Anderson.

UMES Perdue Scholarships will be awarded to students with a 2.5 gpa or higher, interested in studying areas like agriculture, business, engineering, and more.

Perdue Farms says funding these areas are important, especially on the Eastern shore. “The Eastern Shore is very agriculture based,” said Vice President of Research Development Parker Hall.
“In all key areas from production agriculture, which is the business we’re in, from farming and all the way through further processing which all takes place here.”

According to UMES President Doctor Heidi Anderson — those students will be benefiting from cutting edge technology in the future. “So there may be drone technology that comes in. We call it precision agriculture. It’s a new whole way of making sure you’re getting more and better crops,” said Dr. Anderson

Ultimately, Perdue Farms says this funding will allow students to find jobs here on the Eastern Shore.  Also as they’ve been in partnership with the university for years, I’m this step only strengthens that relationship. “As we have UMES students in our workforce and look forward to having more join us over time,” said Hall.

UMES President Dr. Anderson also mentioned that as the nation faces a food insecurity issue, having more students focus on agriculture will only help solve that problem .