National 4-H Council and Monsanto Continue Efforts to Inspire the Next Generation

CHEVY CHASE, Md., Sept. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- National 4-H Council and Monsanto Company today announced that they will continue their efforts to inspire the next generation through the 4-H Ag Innovators Experience. Through this program, the organizations are partnering to help youth develop 21^st century workforce skills necessary to meet the needs of a growing population. The 4-H Ag Innovators Experience connects STEM and agriculture through a fun, interactive activity that engages young people. In 2015, the activity will focus on agricultural issues related to environmental stewardship, natural resource management and/or conservation. 

Launched in 2014, the 4-H Ag Innovators Experience successfully reached 10,000 youth in urban, suburban, and rural areas across select states in the Midwest. National 4-H Council's land grant university partners are competing now to develop the 2015 activity. The winning university and activity will be announced in November 2014.

"Within the next 40 years, population trends project the world population will grow by two billion, and this will create new environmental challenges that the leaders of tomorrow must be prepared to address," said Jennifer Sirangelo, president & CEO, National 4-H Council. "As a valued supporter of 4-H, Monsanto has been invaluable in helping to educate the next generation of farmers, scientists and other ag professionals."

A key element of the 4-H Ag Innovators Experience is to engage teens who are emerging as young leaders in their community and provide them with the opportunity to work with their peers and younger kids on the activity. The selected teen leaders will engage in in-depth training and be responsible for rolling out the activity to approximately 10,000 youth through 4-H clubs, after-school programs and summer camps. After completing the activity, participants can create a video to demonstrate potential applications in their local communities. Four winners will be chosen, and each will receive a cash award.

"We're proud to support this hands-on educational initiative to show youth the importance of environmental stewardship," said Mark Martino, National 4-H Council board member and Monsanto Company supply chain manager. "We're hopeful that the young people who participate in this program will apply their knowledge and skills to become environmentally responsible leaders of tomorrow."

Learn more at www.4-h.org/about/partners/monsanto/.

About 4-H

4-H, the world's largest youth development and empowerment organization, cultivates confident kids who tackle the issues that matter most in their communities right now. In the United States, 4-H programs empower six million young people through the 109 land-grant universities and Cooperative Extension in more than 3,000 local offices serving every county and parish in the country. Outside the United States, independent, country-led 4-H organizations empower one million young people in more than 50 countries. National 4-H Council is the private sector, non-profit partner of the Cooperative Extension System and 4-H National Headquarters located at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Learn more about 4-H at www.4-H.org, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4-H and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/4H.

About Monsanto

Monsanto is committed to bringing a broad range of solutions to help nourish our growing world. We produce a variety of seeds ranging from fruits and vegetables to key crops - such as corn, soybeans, and cotton - that help farmers produce abundant and nutritious food. We work to find sustainable agriculture solutions that help farmers conserve natural resources, use data to improve farming practices, use water and other important resources more efficiently, and protect their crops from pests and disease. Through programs and partnerships, we collaborate with farmers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, universities and others to help tackle some of the world's biggest challenges. To learn more about Monsanto, our commitments and our more than 20,000 dedicated employees, please visit: discover.monsanto.com and monsanto.com. Follow our business on Twitter^® at twitter.com/MonsantoCo, on the company blog, Beyond the Rows^® at monsantoblog.com or subscribe to our News Release RSS Feed.

SOURCE National 4-H Council