Manitoba Crop Alliance recently announced the winners of their 2025-26 High School Bursary. There were six winners province-wide, including two from the Parkland.
Katie Gulak of Gilbert Plains will be studying Agribusiness at Assiniboine College in Brandon, and Aiden Brunel of Ste. Rose will be heading west to Olds College in Alberta to study Agriculture Production Management. Andrew Enns, Research and Production Coordinator with MCA, said both of them are incredibly deserving of the bursary.
"They're two promising high school graduates from the area, they're both going off to post secondary education. Katie is going to be entering an Agribusiness program at Assiniboine College, hoping to learn things about farm management, how to react to changing markets, and help make her farm more efficient and sustainable. She hopes to bring that knowledge back to her family farm...and Aiden is off to Olds College in Alberta, and he's going to take a two year Ag Management diploma, and he's also interested in brining that information back to his family farm, where he hopes to become the fifth generation on the farm, and introduce some of the new things that he learned," said Enns.
The bursary is for $1,000 to help graduating high school students entering programs that will help their agricultural skills. Part of the selection process involved written letters, submitting high school transcripts, and references, showing Katie and Aiden are serious about using their post-secondary knowledge to help their family farms.
Manitoba Crop Alliance also has a bursary for students already in post-secondary agriculture programs. Enns said being able to help out the next generation of Manitoba farmers and ag producers is one of the things MCA takes a lot of pride in.
"Really the main purpose of the bursary is to inspire and support the next generation of farmers and agricultural professionals, to make sure that agriculture has a bright future in Manitoba, and really invest in the success and future of Manitoba agriculture," said Enns.
If Katie Gulak and Aiden Brunel are just two of Manitoba's aspiring agriculture professionals, then it's safe to say the next generation of agriculture is in good hands.
